Dangerous Lines
by Artistia
Summary: They say that imprinting is like a million lines converging, tethering the wolf to their mate. They don't say that its like a chain, binding the imprint to the wolf forever.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Okay, I said I would try to get something out by Valentine's day, it was a toss up on which story would be published. I have a Bella/Tanya AU I started, but I might keep that too myself, so I started another one that was supposed to be a one-shot just for fun but it's getting out of hand. I'll have to sort that one out for a while before I decide to post anything. Lots of story ideas, but limited desire to work, ya know?

Anyway, this story is different than what I've tried before. There are two plot problems to follow, the first introduced in this chapter, the second introduced in the second chapter. The lines between good and evil will be murky at least, because both sides will do bad or at least morally questionable things. If you're not down with character death or rampant disregard for human life, please avoid this story.

 **Summary:** **They say that imprinting is like a million lines converging, tethering the wolf to their mate. They don't say that its like a chain, binding the imprint to the wolf forever.**

 **Posted: February 13th, 2016**

 **Chapter 1**

"Bella, wake up!" Jacob yelled as he burst into the room, causing the brunette on the bed to sit up with a start.

"Geez, Jake, don't you knock?" Bella groaned out, her heart hammering in her chest. She rubbed absentmindedly at her eyes, trying to get rid of the remnants of sleep. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Come on Bells, you graduated, you're less mopey, we can hangout now," he said, settling his large frame in the desk chair.

"Why do I feel like this has less to do with hanging out and more to do with wolf business?" Bella spat out, glaring at him.

Jake shrugged, "Why so suspicious Bells, sure the pack will be around, but they're not that bad."

"They hate me Jake, don't even try to sugar coat it, they hate me for dating a vampire."

"Can you really blame them Bells, I mean, you did knowingly date a leech," Jake replied dismissively. "Then you mourned him for months after he dumped you." The wolf-boy shrugged, "I know I can't blame them."

Bella ignored the sharp stab in her heart at Jacob's words and stood up, grabbing some clothes out of her dresser before shuffling out to the bathroom. "Can you leave my room please, I need to get changed if you're dragging me down to the reservation today."

After taking a short shower, Bella pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and walked downstairs to see Jake eating everything in her fridge. "I made you some toast," he muffled around the chicken in his mouth.

"How thoughtful of you," Bella replied, rolling her eyes. She grabbed the toast from her toaster and buttered it while Jake finished off the jar of pickles.

"Ah, good breakfast, let's go Bells," he said, grabbing her before she could finish her toast.

"Ouch, geez Jake, I'm not as sturdy as you," Bella said as she winced as she rubbed her shoulder where Jake grabbed her.

They road to La Push in relative silence with Jake humming to the music on the radio, further emphasizing the fact that he was tone deaf.

Bella winced as she felt bruises forming on her shoulder where Jake grabbed her. It wasn't the first time that Jake left bruises on her, usually when he grabbed her too harshly. She knew he didn't mean it, but he and the rest of the wolves didn't realize their own strength sometimes.

"We're hanging out at Sam's today Bells," he said as they pulled up in front of Sam's house. "Embry, Quil and I are going to use his game system to play since he has the best TV. Sam, Jared and Paul are on patrol right now, but Emily's here, you can help her in the kitchen. Or you can watch us play video games, you know, whatever, just remember, don't stare at Emily too much."

"I got it Jake," Bella rolled her eyes. _So much for hanging out, why am I not surprised that he brought me down here to cook?_ She had only met Emily once, and it was after Jared freaked out on her and she found out about the pack. She only spent a few hours with the older wolves Sam and Jared, and had never met Paul, but she knew enough about them to know that they hated her.

Bella followed Jake into the house and spotted Embry and Quil sitting on the floor in front of the TV, game controllers in hand. Jake joined them on the floor while Bella rolled her eyes and made her way into the kitchen. "Hi Emily," the brunette greeted the older girl, glancing at the ingredients splayed out on the counter.

"Bella," Emily cried, "Jake said he was going to be brining you; can you help me out? We're having spaghetti and meatballs today, and I'm not sure how to make the meatballs and sauce. I hear you have a good recipe though." The brunette nodded and set about helping, internally sighing though that she was brought down to the reservation in order to cook for a pack of wolf shifters.

"How many are going to be here anyway?" Bella asked a few hours later after making a mountain of food.

"Oh, the whole pack now, Embry, Quil and Jake you know, of course Sam, Jared and Paul, they're out helping the newly phased wolves, Brady and Colin. They're pretty young, so Sam figured it would be best if the older wolves helped them. And then Leah will be over later of course, though Leah…" Emily trailed off and Bella just nodded her head. She heard about what happened between Leah, Sam and Emily, how Sam imprinted on Emily even though he was engaged to her cousin Leah.

When Bella heard the story, she immediately told Jake that she was never dating him; she knew that he didn't imprint on her and didn't want to go through what Leah did. Every time Bella saw the older girl, she had a scowl on her face, and glared at everyone, using biting words when glares weren't enough.

"Is it typical for everyone to come here for… lunch, dinner?" Bella asked, not knowing what time it was.

"Not usually, but they've been having some kind of problem with a stray vampire popping up here and there, so Sam wants to have a meeting with the full pack. Well, maybe not Jared, he might be running patrols…" Emily's voice trailed off and she scrunched her face up, trying to think.

"What do you mean stray vampire?" Bella asked, fear gripping her.

"Some red-haired female leech," Quil answered when he walked into the kitchen, snatching a piece of bread off of the counter. "She manages to escape us each time we think we've caught her, but she keeps getting away."

"A red-haired vampire… Victoria," Bella murmured, looking down at the ground.

"That's rich," an unfamiliar voice spoke. "The leech lover knows this knew leech. She coming to, what, take you out for coffee?"

Bella looked up and locked eyes with the sneering, angry man in front of her. As soon as their eyes connected, she could feel something settle around her neck and into her chest while the shifter in front of her froze before shaking violently. "You've got to be kidding me," he seethed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Paul," Sam snapped, having witnessed the whole scene. "Outside, now!"

"What just happened…" Bella stuttered out, a growing weight settling on her chest.

The people in the room stared at her and each other before Leah, who had just arrived, snorted. "Paul just imprinted on you Swan," she spat out.

"Leah," Sam barked, walking back into the room. "That wasn't for you to tell her."

"It's my job to tell her Leah," Paul said, walking into the room. "So butt out." Bella took a good look at Paul, particularly his expression. The anger from earlier seems to have disappeared but something about him still set her on edge. His eyes flashed over to her and she felt an immense pressure settle on her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. "Bella can I speak to you outside?" Paul asked, his voice calm but his eyes hard.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jake interrupted, looking between Bella and Paul.

"Leave them alone Jake," Sam stated, power rolling in his voice. "They have to discuss some things."

Jake grumbled and Paul turned and walked out of the door. Bella hesitated but it felt as if an invisible tether tugged her out of the house behind the wolf shifter. They walked down to the beach until they were a fair distance from the house. Paul turned around and looked at the brunette, a sneer on his face. "Do you know what imprinting means Bella?" He asked, disgust present in his voice.

Bella licked her lips, "Is that, is that what Sam and Emily have, and Jared and Kim?"

"Kind of, except what they have is different, what this is, this is a mistake," Paul bit out, his eyes fierce. "Our legends say that the imprint is a gift to the wolf spirit warriors for their sacrifice to the wolf, to the tribe. The imprint is supposed to calm the wolf and the wolf is then supposed to be whatever the imprint wants." Paul sneered, a grimace on his face. "My wolf and I agree that you're disgusting, knowingly cavorting with a leech. I'm not touching a leech's used goods, besides, what's to say you could even satisfy me when you're used to a leech's cold frozen dick?"

The tether around Bella's neck tightened and the weight on her chest increased. She took a step back, frightened by the look on Paul's face only to stop when a scalding hot hand tightly grasped her wrist. "Where do you think you're going little girl?" He hissed out, his hand tightening.

"I-" Bella started, too afraid to sleep.

"My wolf and I might think you're a piece of shit, but you are our piece of shit, you belong to us." Bella's heartbeat spiked at the menacing look on Paul's face. "I'm not going to hit you little girl, don't you worry about that, I'm not going to touch you actually," he said, releasing her arm. "You come around down here, I'm going to treat you exactly the way your precious leeches treated you, like a pet."

He turned and walked back towards Sam's house before glancing back at the girl. "And not a word to the others, to them, everything is normal," he stated, heading back to the house.

The tether lightened around her neck, allowing Bella to breathe and she dropped to the ground with a gasp. "What was that?" She murmured, rubbing her neck, trying to feel for the cord she felt. Her brow furrowed when she confirmed that there was nothing around her neck. She twisted her arm the wrong way and winced feeling her wrist throb. Pushing her sleeve up, Bella brushed her fingers against the reddened and swelling flesh. "That's definitely going to bruise."

She stayed on the ground for a few minutes, thinking about what had just occurred, what had just happened. Standing shakily, Bella turned to look out at the ocean, wondering if her existence was worth continuing or if she should just walk into the sea. Jake came out to find her a few moments later.

"You okay Bella?" He asked. "Paul came in by himself and told us it was a lot for you to take in."

"I-" Bella started, but she felt the cord tighten around her neck the second she thought about telling Jake what really happened. "It's a lot," she reluctantly gasped out. "I… Can you take me home, I need to think."

Jake was silent on the way pack to the car and as he drove Bella home. The silence unnerved the brunette slightly, but she was more concerned with what happened earlier with Paul than with Jake's attitude. Jake stopped in front of her house and followed her out of the car and to the front door. "I'll be fine on my own Jake," Bella said, looking back at the still silent figure following her.

"It's not fair…" He mumbled after a minute, gazing at her.

"What?"

"You should've been mine!" Jake yelled, his fists clenched and form vibrating slightly. "If Paul hadn't of imprinted on you, you would've been mine!"

"Jake, we've talked about this…"

"I was giving you time to think it over, you still weren't over that leech. You were going to come to your senses soon though; I could tell you were warming up to me. You were going to give in and be mine sooner or later, but now that Paul has imprinted on you, you're basically untouchable by anyone in the pack."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to date you?!" Bella yelled, glaring at him.

"Whatever," he replied, stalking back to the car. "I hope you have a good life with the man whore of La Push!"

Bella stared after him as he yanked open his door and drove off in a huff, the tires spinning slightly on the gravel in his haste to get away. She realized as he drove away that they never said anything more about Victoria with everything that happened with Paul.

She turned back to her house and headed for the kitchen, not getting a chance to eat any of the food she had prepared with Emily. The brunette made herself a sandwich and ate it on the way upstairs towards her room. Bella flopped back on her bed, rubbing her chest when she felt the pressure increase slightly. She dozed lightly, mentally exhausted from the day.

She awoke suddenly to a searing pain coursing through her body. It was as if claws were tearing apart her intestines, ripping her apart from the inside. She felt her stomach churning and started gasping for breath, heaving. Bella stumbled out of bed and raced to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before retching up everything she had eaten in her entire life. She started dry heaving once her stomach was empty, choking on air as she tried to take breaths. She collapsed on the floor in a heap, sobs wracking her body as the pain continued to get worse before it abruptly stopped, creating a void in her soul.

Bella tried to catch her breath, her body sore and weak from the retching and the throbbing pain. "Oh god, what's happening to me?" She moaned, unable to move from her position.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she was able to find the strength to crawl back to her room and into her bed. Curling into a tight ball, she whimpered as the pain began anew, wondering what evil she had done in her life, or if this pain would be the last thing that she felt.

"Bells, Bells," Charlie's voice filtered into her mind, stirring her to the waking world a few hours later.

"Ch-Dad?" Bella moaned softly, turning over to look at him.

"You left a mess in the bathroom Bella, it needs to be cleaned up," he said gruffly before walking out of her room and back downstairs.

The brunette rubbed her chest as she sat up; the pain had dulled from a piercing ache to a throb, feeling more like constant heartburn than someone taking a knife to her organs. She slowly got to her feet and shuffled to the bathroom, gagging at the smell when she entered the room. As she cleaned up the evidence of her episode earlier, she wished that what caused it would disappear as quickly. _What was that anyway?_ She thought as she threw away the last of the dirty towels.

"Dad, the bathroom's clean," Bella said as she called down the stairs. "I'm pretty tired, I'm going to go ahead and go to bed."

"I'll be gone all day tomorrow Bella, I'm going fishing," Charlie called back, making no mention of her going to bed early or being sick.

"Can't decide who's worth living with, a mother who can't take care of herself or a father who ignores me…" Bella murmured as she went back to her room.

She fell into a fitful sleep, only to wake hours later as pain surged through her again and the invisible cord tightened around her neck. She gasped and coughed, trying to catch her breath, forcing out a scream in fright. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, like a heavy thud thundering in her ears. It felt like an eternity, feeling her heart nearly jump out of her chest, her throat constricted by an unseen tether, but it had to only be a few minutes before the pain vanished, leaving only a hollow feeling in her chest. Bella coughed, choking as she tried to suck in air as quickly as possible. She felt something sticky on her face around her mouth after she coughed. Licking her lips, she instantly tasted copper on her tongue, realizing that she had coughed up her own blood.

"Damnit Bella, I thought we were done with this," Charlie yelled, banging on her door. "Stop screaming, and go back to sleep. Edward left, get over it, stop mourning, moping, grow up Isabella." She heard him stomp back to his room, slamming his door with a huff.

"Sorry Dad," Bella whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. "But I think I'm dying."

* * *

"It's been a while since I've seen you down here leech lover," Leah's voice came from behind her. Bella turned slightly from her spot sitting on the sand staring out at the water and gazed up at the she-wolf. Leah looked visibly startled, taking in the changes that had come over the girl since she had last seen her at Sam's weeks ago. Dark bags sat under the younger girl's eyes, and her skin seemed sallow, dehydrated as it stretched around bone and tissue. Bella had clearly lost a lot of weight in the past few weeks with the way that her clothes hung on her frame, dwarfing her. "Geez Swan, what happened to you, you look like shit."

"I'm not in the mood Leah," Bella rasped out. Her voice had been severely damaged by the screaming at night and the cord wrapped around her neck, choking her.

"Seriously, what's up Swan?" Leah asked, sitting down next to the girl. "I thought you would be off with Paul somewhere. I keep seeing him walking around looking smug, like a stuffed up peacock."

"I haven't seen Paul since that day," Bella snorted, instantly feeling the pain set in on her chest. She felt the cord tighten around her neck and her hand instantly shot to her neck, grasping. "Oh god, why now," she gasped, bending forward. She started to choke and shake, dry heaving since she hadn't been able to eat much for days.

"Swan? Swan?!" Leah yelled out, seeing the girl crumple forward, gasping in pain. "Bella!"

The pain lessened to a more manageable ache, something she could function with, allowing Bella to stumble to her feet. She turned and slowly started back to her behemoth truck. "Bella, shit, wait up, what was that?" Leah called after her, catching the girl by her wrist.

"Nothing, leave me alone Leah, just go be like your pack mates and stick your head in the sand," Bella yelled, feeling her wrist bruise from where Leah grabbed her.

Leah released Bella's wrist and watched the girl stumbled away, suspicion present in her eyes. She stood there for a moment before turning towards the tribal council hall, knowing that something was amiss with the girl, especially since the pain that she just witnessed started when she mentioned Paul's name. _Something is definitely wrong…_

Bella stumbled back to her truck and got in, easing out of the parking lot. She started to head back to Forks, but the pain in her chest increased greatly, forcing her to pull over on the side of the road. She set her head down on her steering wheel and shuddered out some breaths, desperately trying to keep her heart in her chest. Her heart still and the pain stopped, but Bella continued to sit on the side of the road, tears streaking down her face.

A knock on her window startled her out of her thoughts and she turned her head. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Paul standing outside of her, smirking at her. "You okay _pet,_ " he said, sneering at the brunette.

"What do you want Paul?" She asked, licking her dry, cracked lips.

Paul smirked again, "Oh come on _pet,_ aren't you _happy_ to see me? Don't you feel _better_ seeing me?"

Bella stopped breathing, her heart nearly stopped beating at his words. _What does he know…_ The wolf just smirked and walked off, the pain returning the second he hit the tree line.

The pressure on her chest was manageable as she restarted her truck and continued home. She made it home and into the house before she passed out on the floor.

"Bella, Bella come on, wake up!" Leah's voice filtered into her mind as she felt soft pats to her face. "Come on, don't let him do this to you."

"Leah…" Bella murmured. "What?"

"Thank god," Leah said, relieved when Bella's eyes cracked open. "How long have you been lying here?"

"What time is it?" The brunette croaked, sitting up slowly. "I got back around 3 I think…"

"It's almost midnight," the older girl hissed out. "Where's the chief?"

"I don't know, he's almost never here anymore, might be out fishing…"

Leah snorted, "Probably at my house fucking my mom…"

"What?" Bella asked, wide-eyed.

The older girl sighed and sat down on the floor. "I found out a while ago that my mom and your dad were having an affair, have been having an affair actually, for several years now. It's part of the reason why I phased for the first time and also part of the reason why I didn't like you."

"That bastard," Bella murmured, leaning back against the couch. "Harry was one of his best friends… Oh, so those 'fishing trips,' some of them were just to pop down to the reservation to get laid? What a bastard, some genetics I come from, my mother is a whore and my father is a asshole, just great."

"I think you've had enough pity-party time Swan, enough to last a lifetime," Leah said, getting to her feet before hoisting the other girl after her and huddling her into the kitchen. "You need to eat, you're barely 100 pounds, that's not healthy."

"I can't eat Leah, I haven't been able to eat since…"

"Since Paul imprinted on you," the other girl finished her sentence, knowing that she quite hadn't put it together yet. She pushed the girl down into the chair gently before finding the ingredients to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Paul is on patrol right now and for the next few hours, so we have time to get food in you and for it to digest partially before you start to feel pain again."

"So whatever this is, it is connected to Paul somehow," Bella whispered, slowly eating her sandwich.

Leah continued to make a few more sandwiches before sitting down across from the girl. "You knew?" She asked quietly.

"No, not really, I saw him today when I was leaving La Push… trying to leave anyway. Something he said, the way he said it made me think that whatever was going on with me was connected to him."

"It's not only connected to him Bella, but it's _because_ of him. He's doing this on purpose Sw- Bella."

Bella stared blankly at Leah, her body on autopilot as it continued to take in the calories it desperately needed through the sandwiches. "What do you mean?" She asked after finishing her second sandwich.

"What you said, the way you looked, none of it seemed right to me. You've always looked kind of pale and sickly, but it was worse than that. I went to the archives in the tribal council hall to see if they had any answers." The older girl paused, a disgusted look crossing her face. "After some digging, I found a journal left by an unnamed wolf in the time of Taha Aki, it told the truth of imprinting, what was withheld from us by the council."

"Just tell me Leah," Bella urged when the girl stopped speaking.

"For the wolf, imprinting is like a million cables, connecting us to our family, our dreams, our lives, snapping and reattaching as one cord to our imprint." At Leah's words, Bella's hand shot straight to her neck where the invisible tether clung to her, tightening slightly. "We were told that imprinting was a gift from the spirits for being wolves, giving us someone that would complete us, but it's not, not really. Imprinting is from the spirits, but it has more levels than what the elders told us. It provides wolves someone who they can control; the imprintee becomes whoever the wolf wants them to be or the imprint will actively punish them, forcing them to break so the wolf can mold them."

"So that is what Paul is doing to me? Breaking me?"

"Sort of, except the way he is doing it is different," Leah replied hesitantly. "After I read the notebook, I phased and waited. The guys can't hear me in the mind link unless I want them to, I've managed to hide this by projecting angry thoughts about Emily and Sam."

"Emily and Sam… Oh right, Sam was going to marry you, but imprinted on Emily. Jake told me that being in your head was a nightmare due to your thoughts about them."

"That's what they think, Sam was an ass, and Emily was a whore. I always thought it was amusing and slightly perplexing at the changed she went through after she started dating Sam, but after reading that journal, I understand better now. Sam wanted a housewife he could fuck at any time, and forced that on Emily."

"So what is Paul doing to me?"

"I phased and waited until I felt Paul phase as well, and I heard what he was thinking of," she started again. "Bella, he, he's been sleeping around, that's who he is, the man whore of La Push, but every time he sleeps with someone else, someone not you, the imprint punishes you for not being enough for him, for not being worthy of his dick, his sperm."

"What are you saying?"

Leah took a deep breath, "He knows his fucking around is hurting you, he can feel you through the bond. When he fucks someone else, or even masturbates, the imprint takes it as you not being enough for him, not being worthy of carrying the next line of wolves, and punishes you accordingly."

"It feels like a pressure is sitting on my chest, a cord around my neck and claws ripping apart my organs," Bella whispered, her hand still rubbing at her throat.

"That's the imprint, the spirit of the wolf is literally tearing you apart from the inside," the older girl said, sympathy and disgust present on her face.

"Why are you helping me?" Bella asked suddenly, looking at Leah with suspicion. "Why are you telling me this? You hate me…"

"I'm not going to lie Swan, I don't like you, but I was disgusted once I knew what Paul was doing. I don't like you, but I hate the pack, the council, the tribe even more," Leah replied, anger present in her eyes. "They took everything from me and then expect me to sit by while this shit happens? I don't think so."

"They… what?"

Leah sighed again, "Once I knew what Paul was doing, I stayed phased for a while until Sam phased in. He started talking to Paul about how he was doing with 'fixing' you, correcting your leech loving behavior I guess. Apparently Sam and the elders were operating under the assumption that Paul was using the imprint to correct your behavior, they have no idea what he's really doing, though what they think he is doing is bad enough."

"Did they… did they do something to the other imprints, I know you said Emily was…"

"A whore, yup, a dirty, rotten, whore, and I'm pretty sure they knew about 'correcting' her behavior. As for Jared's imprint Kim, well, she's a genius, had a scholarship to Berkeley for engineering. As soon as Jared imprints on her, she rejects the scholarship to stay with him. Now she's finishing her senior year of high school and well on her way to being a statistic for teenage pregnancy."

Bella jumped out of her seat at Leah's words and started pacing, "I can't fucking believe this shit, I can't believe it. First my dickhead vampire boyfriend dumps me like yesterday's garbage and his whole family leaves, then I find out a psycho vampire is hanging around and I'm pretty sure she's after me, I get imprinted on and controlled by a rat bastard, and then I find out that the old farts in charge of the place, some of the people I've known since I was a baby, are condoning have girls basically brainwashed and forced into situations they don't want. And they want me to go through that as well!" She collapsed on the floor, tears flowing out of her eyes.

"I can't do this," she whispered before looking back up at Leah. "Is there a way to break the imprint? Get rid of it? I let someone control me before because I thought I loved him, because I thought he loved me. Looking back, I regret it, so I'm definitely not going to let some racist, prejudice idiot control me."

Leah looked pensive, "As far as I know, there is no way to break the imprint. Only death will free you."

The brunette's heart dropped into her stomach at the older girl's words and she slumped to the ground in defeat. A stray thought entered her mind as she mulled over Leah's words. "Only death will free me…" She murmured. "So if I die, then the imprint is broken?"

"Yeah, but you'll be dead so there isn't really much of a point," Leah said, sitting back. She paused for a moment and thought about her own words before glancing down to look at the other girl. She took in the thoughtful expression, the almost calculating look in her eyes as she realized what the girl was thinking. "Please don't tell me that you're thinking about-"

"It's the only way Leah, the only way to be free of this," Bella stated firmly. "It's the only way to be free of the imprint and see the next sunrise. At the rate Paul's going with his nefarious scheme, he might kill me sooner or later, so I'll die either way. At least one option has me waking up three days later."

Leah pondered her words and nodded her head. "I hate it, but you make sense, doesn't mean I have to like it. And how are you going to get turned into a bloodsucker anyway? Just find the closest leech and go 'Hi, can you turn me into a vampire, I know I smell and look like food, but don't do it.' Like that will work."

Another memory flashed through Bella's mind, which helped make her decision. "I have an idea but you're not going to like it."

"I'm a wolf Swan, I don't like any part of this conversation but I agree, you turning into a vampire is better than turning into a mindless drone or Paul finally killing you."

"Thanks Leah, I need your help with this. I need you to help me get out of town."

"And go where?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Let me know what you guys think, I'm curious

Review


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** For now, I should be able to update this either Friday or Saturday, but I can only promise that while I'm inspired for this story. It's extremely complex, and not all that fun to write, but it is different for me so that's why I'm doing it. I will do my best to stick to a weekly schedule for now, but I have other stories that are more fun to write, and then sometimes I just don't feel like writing anything. You ever have those days when you wake up and you don't feel like doing anything, at all? Sometimes that happens to me, like literally nothing.

This chapter introduces the second problem, plot point basically, but it will be a while before it is fully explored. It will be mentioned a few times, but not fully brought up for a while.

 **Posted: February 20th, 2016**

 **Chapter 2**

Bella was about to tell her where when Leah held up her hand. "Wait, I don't want to know. Although I have a pretty good grip on my mind, I don't want to accidentally let something slip if it comes to that. Ignorance is bliss and all that."

The younger girl's mouth snapped shut and she nodded. "I need to get a few things first before I even begin to figure some things out, how do you feel about breaking and entering?" Bella asked, looking at the older girl.

"Where are we breaking and entering?"

"The Cul… The Cullen's mansion, I need money, I need things, supplies, they would have them."

"So what do you need me to do? Break down some doors?"

"No, I know where the keys are, what I need is more information from you, can Paul track me through the imprint? Can he like, follow my movements?"

"To an extent I guess, I mean, Sam and Jared always feel when Emily and Kim are too far away so they go and track them down. I don't think that they can tell exactly where they are though or where they've been."

"So I don't have to worry about Paul following me around town?"

"Probably not, he doesn't care that much."

Bella nodded, "Alright, I'm going to go to the Cullen's house, will you phase and keep track of Paul, and warn me if he is going to do something."

"I'll help you out Swan, no worries on that, one of us should get out of this hell hole," Leah replied. "You're not going to leave today are you?"

"In the next few days possibly, hopefully tomorrow but I'm trying not to make any concrete plans at the moment," the brunette whispered, thinking of her interfering ex-best friend. She knew that if the pixie caught a whiff of what she was planning, she would do something to stop her. _Alice can go to hell, I need to do this._

Leah nodded again and left through the back door, phasing as soon as she hit the tree line. Bella watched her go before she walked out the front door and climbed into her truck. She trudged her way to the Cullen house, watching as the branches and small shrubs that had overgrown the driveway in the past ten months be crushed and moved by her truck's tires. Soon, she was emerging through the forest to a familiar sight. When she climbed out of her truck, Bella took in the large, glass house that once brought her feelings of peace and home, family. Now the sight only held feelings of bitterness and betrayal, brought by the abandonment of her second family and their leaving their shit for her to deal with.

She walked calmly up to the house, feeling the cord tighten slightly around her throat, but nothing unmanageable. Testing the doorknob, Bella scoffed when she realized that they had left the door unlocked. "Enough time to cover the furniture and take their favored possessions but not enough time to say goodbye," the brunette muttered as she glanced around the living room.

The young woman methodically started ransacking the rooms, looking for cash mostly, and breaking things. It'd been a rough few weeks for the girl, a rough few months, she needed the stress relief of hearing something valuable smash on the ground, especially if it was something that belonged to _them._ She found very little on the first floor so moved to the second floor.

She located about 100,000 in Rosalie and Emmet's room, along with a collection of gold jewelry in a partially open wall safe. Bella took all of it, knowing that the jewelry could be sold to a place that melted down gold. The next room was Edward's, and while there was nothing valuable in the room, Bella did spend a few minutes breaking every single CD in the room.

When the young woman entered the next room, she took in the Civil War history books and realized she must be in Jasper's room, his study. She walked further into the room and glanced around, getting to know the person who almost ate her, who wanted to eat her. There were many books about wars, war strategies, catalogued according to dynasties, regions and wars. "Vampires must suffer from OCD," she murmured, looking at the methodical way the books were organized and kept in a straight line on the shelf. As she ran her hand over the books, her fingers brushed against a noticeable bump in the wood.

Curiously, Bella pressed against the bump, watching as section of the next bookshelf pop open slightly. The brunette moved to the section and pried it open, locating a safe behind the bookshelf. She tested the handle and the door of the wall safe swung open. She found stacks of money in the safe, along with a Canadian passport, documents and a letter addressed to her.

Glancing through the papers, Bella saw that they were background papers for an Isabelle Beaulieu, and the passport had the same name and her picture, the one from her driver's license. She stared at the paperwork for a moment before opening the letter, hoping it would provide her with some clue as to why there were papers for her with a new name and nationality.

 _To Bella,_

 _You don't know us, but we know you… Well, not really, I just know stuff, and I was informed about you through my knowing stuff. Like how I know that you would come to the Cullen house looking for money to get away, so I had paperwork made for you. I know your grandmother was French and she taught you how to speak French when you were younger, which is why I selected a Canadian passport for you._

Bella stopped reading and looked at the passport in confusion before returning to the letter and seeing a different handwriting continuing in the next paragraph.

 _Bella, please ignore the cryptic idiot, I mean, don't ignore him, everything he said was true, but didn't really explain anything. I'm Charlotte, and the idiot 'knower' is my husband Peter. We were friends with Jasper a long time ago, but not much anymore, not since he lost his balls to that pixie bitch and turned into a pussy bunny muncher. Anyway, Peter has a gift, despite him saying that he doesn't, and his gift tells him things, not stuff like the stupid Pixie, but stuff that will definitely happen. His gift told him about you, what the Cullens did to you, even things that you didn't know about, and what would happen after. We're ashamed of what they did and want to help you; the best way for you to get away undetected is use the papers._

 _Charlotte's right Bella, use the papers and passports to get away. We brought them here after the Cullens left knowing that you would find them when you needed them. Isabella Swan has to disappear, but Isabelle Beaulieu can live, can get away. Look around the house some more, discover what the Cullens were really like, but then get the hell out of there. Take the money and the jewelry, everything in this safe belongs to Jasper and Alice, think of it as compensation for what they've done. I've opened up a Swiss bank account for you under Isabelle Beaulieu. Take the cash and what you make from the jewelry to the lawyer on the paperwork and he'll set up a money transfer for you. He's not a vampire, but he's not human either, don't worry about him._

 _We hope we'll get to meet you one day Bella, but Peter has said that the shit storm that is coming will decide if we do get to meet. One thing that I will tell you before concluding this letter is be open to every possibility, don't let what has happened to you close your heart forever._

 _We wish you good luck Belle, as that will be what we call you if and when we meet._

 _Peter and Charlotte Whitlock_

Bella slumped back on the bed, staring at the letter and the passport in disbelief. She noted that the lawyer mentioned on the paperwork was a lawyer in Port Angeles, one of the more prominent ones. She was reluctant to trust these vampires who claimed to know Jasper, but they way they spoke of him and Alice indicated that they no longer cared for the two.

She picked up the paperwork and emptied out the safe, placing it in the hallway with the rest of her stash before continuing through the house. Carlisle and Esme's room was next with Carlisle's study connecting through a separate door. Glancing around, she didn't automatically see anything of interesting in the bedroom. It was sparsely decorated, minimal items and belongings, indicating that either Esme and Carlisle didn't have much stuff, or they had enough forewarning to leave. Bella moved towards Carlisle's study and pushed open the door. Seeing the mostly bare shelves and other personal effects missing confirmed her second thought that Carlisle and Esme knew ahead of time that they were going to leave.

Bella started rifling through the papers and other things Carlisle left behind. She was hitting a dead end until her fingers brushed against the corner of a notebook that was wedged in the very back of one of the desk drawers. She grabbed hold of it and jerked it out of its spot. It was crumpled and torn when she got it out of the drawer, but still legible as she flipped open the cover. The words she read stopped her cold, reading Carlisle's precise script. The notebook told of Carlisle and Esme's quest to find a perfect mate for their oldest 'son' Edward, labeled 'The Genesis Project.'

They had found numerous girls through the years, locating them as children and watching them. Carlisle would run numerous tests on them, assessing them physically and Esme would get close to the to assess their psychological and emotional state. The notes unnerved her, particularly since they seemed to track everything, dream cycles, school grades, menstrual cycle, ovulation, eating habits, hobbies, friends… She was horrified by the gross invasion of privacy and boundaries, especially by the reasons the two gave to discounting girls for their 'son.' Carlisle and Esme's handwritten littered the pages, stating things like 'Subject A is too pretty,' 'Subject B is not beautiful enough,' 'Subject C has abnormal hobbies such as playing sports,' 'Subject D has too strong a will to be seen as attractive for Edward,' 'Subject E has blonde hair.' The list went on with many different faults for each girl. She flipped horrified through the book as she read the list of literally hundreds of girls over the years until she came to the last few pages, all of them littered with her information. She labeled as Subject XB- Candidate 236, followed by her name and all of her private information. Carlisle and Esme had been watching her for her entire life, keeping track of her between Forks and Phoenix.

The journal detailed Phase I before entering Phase II, very few of the other girls made it to Phase II, meaning interacting with Edward. They made it so that her mom would meet Phil and marry him, forcing Bella to move to Forks while they were living in the city. While everything in the journal frightened her, the last page frightened her the most.

 _'Edward has become too obsessed with Candidate 236; he is pulling away from the family. She must be eliminated, contacted old associate to take care of her.'_

 _'Candidate 236 survived encounter with associate. I am deeply proud of my son for resisting the allure of subject's blood, showing his superiority. Subject must still be eliminated.'_

 _'Associate's deranged coven member is lurking around, proceed with plans to abandon Candidate 236 to be eliminated. The Genesis Project will have to be restructured to prevent similar events happening in the future.'_

The notes were written in both Esme and Carlisle's handwriting. Bella felt sick to her stomach. The notebook held a lot of information, but what she didn't know was the specifics of this so called 'Genesis Project' and to what level of involvement did the other members of the coven have in it.

Bella glanced down at her watch and saw that it was nearly four in the morning. She had been at the Cullen house for over three hours. She grabbed the notebook and returned to the hallway, picking up her stash of look as she bolted out of the house. As she reached her truck, the brunette jumped back in fright when she saw a large shape lurking near the vehicle. Holding back a scream, she watched as the shape, a wolf, morphed back into human form, pulling on pants and a T-shirt once on two legs.

"What took you so long?" Leah hissed, glaring at the girl.

"Sorry," Bella replied, still spooked as to what she read in the notebook and the fright she received seeing Leah's wolf form huddling near her truck.

Leah's eyes narrowed, taking in the exhaustion and fear on the younger girl's face. "What happened?" She demanded. "What did you find out?"

"It's…" Bella shook her head. "It's too much to explain right now, just know that I have to get out of here."

"Did you find some loot then?"

"Yeah, here," the brunette said, dropping the pile of jewelry and cash."

"Damn," Leah whistled. "If I knew what kind of cash they had in that house, I would've broken in a long time ago. Would've helped me get away from this shit hole anyway."

"Here, take these," Bella handed Leah all of the jewelry she found in the house. "Sell it, melt it down, do whatever. Get away from here if you can." She opened truck door and tossed all of the cash and papers inside. "I'm going home and I'm gonna try to get a few hours of sleep. I'm definitely going to leave tomorrow though, or I guess later today, I can't stay here anymore."

"Bella, you're freaking me out, what did you find in that house?" Leah asked again, grabbing the girl's wrist. "This is more than Paul being a bastard."

"They've been watching me," the girl said finally. "The Cullens, they've been watching me my entire life, assessing me, grooming me to be the perfect mate for Edward." She started hyperventilating. "They hired that psycho James to come after me to get rid of me when Edward started to become too obsessed, and they knew that Victoria would come after me as well. If I stay, I'll die, either Paul will kill me or Victoria will, I have to leave immediately."

"Fucking psychos," Leah growled. "But Bella, you have a problem, Paul will know if you try to leave, he'll feel you if you get too far away. He might not like you, but he and his wolf believe that you belong to them. He will drag you back here and I don't even know what he'll do to you after that."

"I thought you said he wouldn't hurt me…"

"Paul probably won't, but his wolf would sooner rip you to shreds than let you go. I've seen into his head Bells, I know what his wolf is like."  
Bella was silent for a moment, looking pensively at Leah. "I know I've asked a lot of you, but can you help me out one more time?"

"You want a diversion…"

"Please Leah, I need the pack to be distracted when I leave. You said he won't notice short distances, like maybe Port Angeles, but if I go farther he'll definitely notice. Please Leah, I can't, I can't stay here, but I can't escape on my own."

"Alright, alright," Leah responded holding her hand up. "I'll do it, I'll think of something anyway. And you already gave payment for it in the form of all this lovely jewelry."

"Thanks Leah," Bella replied, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I- I'm going to go back to my house now, take a nap while I can but I'm probably gonna leave in a few hours."

Leah nodded her head, "Take care Swan. We probably won't see each other again, but I wish you the best."

"Thanks again Leah, for everything." Bella bid the other girl goodbye and went back to her house to get some sleep while she could. Her sleep was restless with her thoughts rolling through her mind.

Her eyes snapped open a few hours later as a scream caught in her throat, her body covered with sweat. She showered and dressed quickly, stuffing the money in a bag before running out the door. Bella climbed in her truck and roared out of the driveway towards Port Angeles, her body still shaking and her mind still shook from her nightmare. She couldn't recall exactly what the dream was about, but she knew Paul played a big part. She remembered glowing golden eyes, silver fur, sharp teeth and claws, feeling the teeth close around her throat, the claws rake down her body.

Bella found the location of the attorney's office on the documents in one of the quieter areas of the business district. She hesitantly stepped through the door and looked around, seeing no other soul in the waiting area, not even a secretary. "Come in Ms. Beaulieu," a smooth voice came from one the back, drawing her attention. There stood a tall man with long dark hair that fell over his ears onto his shoulders. Piercing gray eyes met hers and Bella shuddered slightly before following him into the back.

"Are you Mr. Elder?" Bella asked, looking at the forms again for confirmation.

"Call me Ben Ms. Beaulieu, I've been expecting you," he replied in a smooth voice, pulling out a file on his desk. "I have all of the information you'll need to start a new identity, along with the papers that Mr. Whitlock gave you. I understand you have some money you want to deposit?"

The brunette stared at him in shock for a minute before snapping to attention and dropping the bag on his desk. Mr. Elder, Ben, counted the money quickly and wrote down the figure in his receipt book before pulling out his laptop. "I'm giving you a receipt for the cash Ms. Beaulieu, and I'm transferring the equal amount into your Swiss bank account."

"How do I know that I can trust you?" Bella asked, her frazzled mind catching up with her.

"How did you know that you could trust a note from people you've never met?" Ben countered, never looking up from his computer.

"What are you?" Bella asked after a few moments of silence. "Peter said that you weren't a… a vampire but you weren't human either."

Ben sighed and closed his laptop with a click before looking up at the girl, "Mr. Whitlock was correct, but what I am isn't important." He stood up and pulled out a few more files from his safe before placing the cash in it. "I have here a plane ticket that leaves from Seattle this afternoon, a direct flight to La Guardia International Airport in New York. Due to advice from Mr. Whitlock, I purchased a seat for you on a flight leaving shortly later to Florence Italy, also a direct flight."

"How…" Bella murmured, looking at the boarding passes that the man handed her.

"Mr. Whitlock is very good at what he does and so am I," Ben replied, sitting back down. "I just need you to sign a few forms, and I'll turn over your bank cards, credit cards and other financial information, as well as the deed to the house that Mr. Whitlock purchased for you in Montreal, even though you probably won't be using it any time soon." Bella continued to gape as she signed the forms Ben placed in front of her, absentmindedly reading them to make sure she wasn't signing away the rights to one of her kidneys.

"All right, everything is sorted on my end, here is the rest of what you need," the lawyer said, handing her a packet of papers. "And here are the keys to a rental car, you can return it to the Seattle airport when you get there. I suggest purchasing a small carryon before going through security though or else it'll look suspicious. Can't be to careful in this day and age."

"Thank you Mr. Elder, Ben, I don't…" Bella's voice trailed off, unsure of what to say.

The lawyer waved her off, "This is my job Ms. Beaulieu. Be forewarned though, as soon as you leave this building today, this office will disappear and I will dispose of your truck for you. If you need to contact me, use the number on the card I provided for you in the folder."

"How often do you do this?" Bella asked before she left. "Help someone disappear that is…"

"Humans? Not too often, others though quite frequently. I only deal with humans when they get wrapped up in this mess."

"Someone like me then…"

Ben sighed again and set his hand on her shoulder, looking at her with sympathy, "Mr. Whitlock didn't inform me of the specifics of your case as I don't need to know, I do know however that this isn't the end for you. Where you're headed, you'll find freedom."

"Freedom or death you mean."

"They're both the same if you think about it," he replied as he guided her to the door. "It was a pleasure working with you Ms. Beaulieu and I wish you the best."

At that, Bella stepped outside the office and felt a small breeze. When she turned around, the sight of an empty office space greeted her with a sign for a leasing agency on the door. She stood there in disbelief for a minute before turning back around to face the streets. "Vampires, shape shifters, of course law offices can disappear."

She sighed and glanced at the keys in her hand, hitting the key fob causing the gray Hyundai up on the corner to beep. She climbed in the car, and pulled away from the curve, heading to the mall in order to follow the lawyer's instructions. She grabbed a small carryon, and some clothes. The mall had an apple store, so she splurged a little and purchased an iPad to keep herself amused during the flight. It was less than an hour before she was on the road again to Seattle. Remembering to sign Isabelle Beaulieu on her credit card statements wasn't as difficult as she thought, almost as if she had truly left Isabella Swan behind her.

The further away from Forks, La Push, she got, she could feel the tether tightening around her throat, pulling her in the opposite direction, tugging her back to her doom. She pushed forward, ignoring as the cord tightened to the point where she almost couldn't breathe. She made it to the Seattle airport and into the parking lot for rental car returns, and set her head down on the steering wheel with a loud thud, gasping for air.

"I can do this," Bella muttered as she heaved herself out of the car and grabbed her carryon. She dropped the keys at the desk and glanced at the flight boards, locating her flight information that was on the boarding passes Ben printed off for her. "I can do this," she continued to murmur quietly to herself as her ID was checked and she was ushered through security. She made her way across the airport to her gate and slumped into a chair, taking deep breaths to keep herself from throwing up. She purchased some ginger ale, a sandwich and fruit from one of the nearby vendors and ate them slowly, hoping to be able to keep them down. It was a little over an hour when it was announced that they were beginning to seat priority customers and first class. Looking back at her boarding pass, she saw that she was seated in first class and unsteadily made her way to her feet and onto the plane. Stowing her carryon in the overhead compartment, Bella settled into the plush, first class seat and sighed.

Nearly 40 minutes later, the plane started to move, preparing for takeoff and Bella closed her eyes. "Please let this work," she sent a silent pray up to anyone who was listening. "Please let me get away."

* * *

Leah's eyes remained glued to the clock on her wall as her blood pressure steadily crept up along with her stress level. She wasn't sure what time Bella was making her escape, but knew that it was going to be today, possibly as early as that afternoon. "What to do, what to do?" She huffed out, knowing she had to do something to keep Paul occupied.

Dashing out of her house, she phased once she hit the tree line and scouted around, looking for the redheaded leech's scent. She located it on the northern boarder of the tribe, crossing inland before disappearing back over the territory line. _'Perfect,'_ she thought, _'I can distract them with a hunt for the leech. This scent is only a day old, so it should work.'_ She howled, alerting the other members of the pack. She felt Sam, Jared, Jacob and Paul phase in while the younger wolves were already running patrol. _"Found the leech's scent,"_ she told them. _"It's fresh, only a day old, we should be able to track it."_

Paul's wolf snarled out in agreement, joining her at the northern edge of their territory before chasing the scent through the forest. Leah, Sam and Jacob followed behind him while Jared stayed behind with the younger wolves. Quietly observing Paul as they hunted, Leah noticed that his wolf had been closer to the surface recently, ever since he imprinted on Bella. It was almost as if the wolf wanted to get his claws into the girl, so stayed alert, waiting for his chance when Paul finally let him go.

They followed the scent for hours, chasing it around and around before it finally lead back to Washington where they lost the scent. _"We lost the scent again,"_ Jacob seethed, his own wolf furious at the failure of the hunt.

Suddenly, Paul started pacing, clawing at the ground. _"Too far, too far."_ The words ran on repeat through his mind, confusing the others except for Leah. A single thought slipped through her mind involuntarily. As soon as the thought crossed through her mind, Paul's wolf lunged at her, his larger body mass forcing her to the ground. _"Where is she?"_ He snapped out, his teeth dangerously close to her muzzle.

 _"I don't know what you mean,"_ she returned, her bravado slipping at the sight of glowing yellow eyes and razor sharp fangs.

 _"Return her to us, she is ours."_ The wolf was fully in control now. Leah rolled away just as the silver wolf lunged towards her again. He missed her neck, but caught her in the shoulder, ripping a chunk out.

 _"Paul, calm down, what's wrong with you?"_ Sam commanded but the other wolf didn't appear to hear him.

 _"Gone, gone, too far away, too far away, find what is ours, drag her back, drag her back and punish her,"_ the wolf chanted, a crazed look in her eyes.

 _"Leah, what did you do?"_ Jacob asked, looking at the smaller she-wolf.

 _"What you should have done,"_ Leah snapped. _"Bella was your best friend, but you allowed Paul to torture her, to kill her."_

 _"Bella is Paul's imprint, we're not allowed to interfere,"_ Jacob replied.

 _"He's right Leah, you had no right to interfere with the imprint,"_ Sam said.

 _"I didn't interfere with the imprint, I didn't do anything,"_ she protested again.

 _"Gone, gone, too far,"_ the silver wolf repeated. _"Drag her back, punish her, punish her, devour her."_ The wolf turned his golden eyes towards Leah, assessing the smaller wolf. _"Helped her, helped her, distracted us, led us away."_ Leah backed away hesitantly from the feral wolf. Sam and Jacob stood back from the two wolves, believing that this was a matter that Paul should take care of since it was about his imprint.

 _"Of course you two morons stick your head in the sand,"_ Leah bit out. _"It's what you're good at, it's what all of you are good at."_

The silver wolf snarled, lunged and Leah bolted away, taking off through the forest. Usually she was the fastest wolf but with the injury to her shoulder, Leah could feel the breath of the enraged wolf nipping on her heels. He clamped down on one of her back legs, pulling her backwards to a stop. Leah howled in pain and phased back into her human form, whimpering as she felt her dislocated knee, and ripped shoulder and ankle.

Leah looked up as she heard a twig snap, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw the crazed golden eyes of Paul's wolf come closer. She could no longer hear his thoughts but she didn't need a look in his mind to know that he was thinking.

 _'I'm sorry Swan,'_ Leah thought as she closed her eyes and let her head thump back down on the ground. _'I hope you manage to get away, then I hope you come back and kill these assholes. Avenge me Swan,'_ was her last thought before Paul pounced, his teeth and claws ripping through her body.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm expecting outrage at that last bit, you can voice outrage in the reviews, but seriously, don't flame, that's rude.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I'm actually kind of glad by the mixed reviews, mostly rage and sadness by what happened to Leah, though most people are interested in where everything is going. As usual, I have an endgame, but unlike usual, there are several ways this story could end. The writing is starting to slow down, but hopefully it'll pick back up when I get through this one sticky, boring section. The violence, rampant disregard for human life, and just plain weird or sketchy things will actually grow more frequent as this story progresses, and they get worse. No rape, well nothing that happens "on screen" but that is to say that I won't refer to it. Not referring to it means that it doesn't happen or couldn't happen, but it very well could happen. When we live in a world where people don't have to worry about such things, is when I won't mention them. I'm also not saying that it will escalate to that point, but it could, so prepare yourselves.

This chapter was very strange for me to write so hopefully you guys like it.

 **Posted: February 27th, 2016**

 **Chapter 3**

 _Bella stood alone in the forest, darkness surrounding her. The trees appeared tall and ominous, the moon's light not able to pierce their thick canopies to reach the ground. Glowing golden eyes stared hungrily at her through the darkness. The eyes moved closer, a large silver wolf emerging out of the darkness._

 _The wolf snarled, his long fangs impossibly glistening against the darkness. Bella took a step back away from the wolf, fear clutching at her heart. The wolf lunged and Bella ran, trying to escape. It was a futile attempt as she felt the wolf's massive jaws fasten around her leg._

The brunette jarred awake as the plane hit a patch of turbulence, a scream caught in her throat as she held her breath, unwilling to disturb any of the other passengers. Bella glanced out of the window and saw that the sky was dark and knew that they should be getting ready to land in New York. The fasten seatbelt sign came back on, signaling that Bella's timing was correct and the pilot came through the speakers, announcing their descent to La Guardia. Bella checked the time on the new phone she found in the stack of things that Ben Elder had given her and saw that the plane was a little late. She would have to rush to her next flight if she wanted to get there on time, which was made difficult as she didn't know what gate the flight was departing from.

The plane set down and screeched to a stop before the pilot guided it to the gate. A few minutes later, the flight attendants were showing the first class passengers out of the plane. Bella grabbed her carryon and left the plane, walking up the exit ramp to the gate.

Once off the ramp, she spotted an airport employee holding a sign with her name, her _new_ name, on it waiting next to an airport shuttle. "Ms. Beaulieu?" The man asked. Seeing her nod, he set the sign down. "The airline was informed that you had been experiencing health problems and would have a small window of time to make your next flight, I'm here to escort you to your gate."

Relief flooded Bella's body as she realized Peter or Ben had made arrangements for her to get to her next gate with no problems. Due to her inability to eat or sleep regularly for the past few weeks, her body was weak and would have been unable to make it to the other side of the airport in time. She checked the departure board and climbed into the shuttle.

They arrived at her gate ten minutes later, just in time for first class passengers to start boarding. "Why did they start so early?" Bella muttered to herself, unaware that the shuttle driver heard her.

"It always takes a long time to board these trans-Atlantic flights," he said. "Larger planes, more people. You in first class?"

"Yeah, so I best go," Bella replied, sliding out of the shuttle. She got in line for the gate and boarded once the attendant scanned her ticket. She located her seat, another window seat for this flight and sat down.

Bella stared out the window into the darkness and the glow of the lights on the runway and buildings. She learned to ignore the near strangle hold the tether had around her throat. The pain was almost unbearable when she was in Seattle and when she first got on the plane. The further away from Paul she got, the less of a hold the imprint had on her, the less pain she felt, the less pain he could cause her. However, the strength of the tether increased though, urging her to turn around, tugging, yanking, almost forcibly pulling her back to Washington, back to Paul.

She was nearly in tears by the time the plane was ready to take off due to the constant tugging at her throat. The brunette knew that the pain was the imprint punishing her for leaving Paul, for being away from him, for leaving him. Part of her almost wanted to get off the plane and run back to Washington in hopes to alleviate the pain. Bella tightened her seat belt to prevent herself from getting up and fortunately the plane had finished loading and was preparing to taxi down the runway. Several hundred gallons of jet fuel overcame her itch to leave, propelling her into the air further away from the pack, Washington, Paul, pulling the cord even tighter.

"Hey, Miss, are you all right?" The man in the seat next to her asked as she moved her head between her legs, trying to stem the panic rising in her chest.

"I don't like flying," Bella fibbed weakly, rifling through her backpack for the pills she had been prescribed in the past few weeks. She had gone to Dr. Gerandy at the hospital when she had started feeling pain and the panic attacks. He prescribed her some Xanax and she had become near dependent on them when feeling the pain the imprint inflicted on her, how nervous all of this made her. She swore she was one second away from a panic attack at all times.

Locating her pills, Bella popped one out of the bottle and called for a flight attendant, requesting a small cup of water for her medication. The attendant returned with a cup of water and informed her that they would begin serving dinner within half an hour.

By the time they came back around to serve first-class passengers dinner, Bella had significantly calmed down and started watching some movies on the touch screen in front of her seat. A few hours later, the cabin crew was getting the passengers ready for the night, and Bella turned her light out. She looked out her window, noticing flashes of light coming from under the plane, indicating that they were flying over a thunderstorm. She couldn't hear the thunder over the roar of the engines inside the cabin, but she watches as streaks of electricity bounced from cloud to cloud.

A part of her mind recalled her science classes, dictating that lighting occurs when particles collide and thunder happens when the same lightning travels. The majority of her mind however took in the beauty of the scene, marveling at the fact that she was looking _down_ at a thunderstorm. She leaned her seat back, shifting away from the sight and shut her eyes willing sleep to come quickly.

Sleep did not come, despite her wishes. It mocked her all around as the other passengers in the seats around her slept peacefully, their snores like an irritating serenade. Bella dozed lightly, her mind never fully relaxing enough for sleep. In the end, she gave up and pulled her seat back up, looking out the window again. While she had been pretending to sleep, they had flown out of the storm and now all she could see was darkness. She zoned out, the hours passing by as she entered a mindless state due to the lack of sleep, the constant tugging on her throat put out of her mind.

Bella was on her third movie by the time the cabin crew were turning on the lights in the cabin again, and beginning to serve breakfast. She had started one of the many Nicholas Sparks' movies, but opted for comedy instead of romance. She understood what she should be feeling when watching a comedy, though laughter and humor escaped her recently. Romantic dramas, tragedies, they held a wider emotional range that she didn't think that she could ever comprehend again.

The flight attendants took orders and handed out breakfast, Bella ended up with scrambled eggs, bacon and orange juice. She almost threw up as soon as she put the food in her mouth. It tasted of sawdust and dirt. The brunette took a swig of the orange juice to wash the taste out of her mouth but found it tasted like dust as well. She looked mournfully at her food, knowing that the taste was caused by lack of sleep. Scrunching her nose, Bella downed the food as quickly as possible. She was already underweight; she didn't need to miss any more meals.

It was a few more hours before the airplane began the descent into the Florence airport, and Bella was running on fumes and caffeine at that point. She had requested several shots of espresso from the flight attendant, each one tasting like sludge as she downed them in a desperate hope to stay awake. "At this point, I'd be happy if they killed me," she murmured as the plane descended. "At least I would die on my own terms than wait for Paul to kill me."

The plane landed and Bella waited for the light to come on to indicate that passengers could get up and retrieve their luggage. It was another 30 minutes before she was off the plane and standing in line for customs, slowly moving forward to get her passport stamped. She handed the customs agent her passport and he glanced at it. "You are Canadian?" He asked, glancing from her picture to the girl standing in front of him.

"Yeah," Bella replied weakly, remembering to attach a slight French-Canadian accent to her words.

"And what are you planning to do during your stay?" The agent asked as he stamped her passport.

"Visiting some friends, hoping to be able to relax for a while in this nice Italian sunshine," the brunette answered. The agent nodded and handed her passport back and Bella slowly shuffled out of the airport. She stood still for a moment, feeling the warmth of the late afternoon sun.

She waivered slightly on her feet; exhaustion settling into her bones. It was a type of tired where she was too exhausted to sleep, too exhausted to taste, almost too exhausted to breathe. Bella collapsed on one of the benches outside of the terminal and sighed, her hands still clutching tightly to her bags. She debated between finding a cab and catching a bus, settling on the cab because she didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of a bus.

The cab driver spoke to her in quick Italian, and Bella guessed he asked where she was headed. "Volterra," Bella replied shakily, falling back into her sit. "Volterra please."

The man looked startled at her reply before nodding, clicking his meter on and heading south towards the Province of Pisa. Bella's mind blanked out as her drove, her thoughts drifting as her mind tried to get the rest it needed. Her body didn't succumb to sleep though, it wouldn't allow her to do so. She was on edge, waiting, waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for Paul or the pack to pop out from behind the next corner, waiting for Alice and the Cullens to come swooping in like idiotic, protective angels to save her from her 'stupid' decision. If they showed her faces to her again, she would burn them herself.

Thinking of the Cullens caused her mind to drift to what she found in their house about the Genesis Project. The information she read, while detailed in terms of the humans involved, was vague in terms of the scope of the project. She wondered what it was, how large it was, if Carlisle and Esme were the only ones involved in the project or if there were more. If Bella was capable of feeling anything other than exhaustion, she knew rage would be filling her body. Rage and fear. Rage at being used, fear about how many people could be involved. "I might be walking right into a trap," she murmured, realizing that Carlisle said he was an old friend of the Volturi. They could be involved, they could be the masterminds, she could be walking right into the lion's den.

She couldn't find it in her to care. She just wanted to be released from this life fate had forced on her, and only death could release her, what came after said death wouldn't be up to her.

"Uh, fille," the cab driver spoke, choosing crude French rather than English since Bella had spoken to him a bit in French. "Nous sommes arrivés mais… ce ville est dangereux, dangeruex…"

Bella smiled at the man, "Je sais, merçi." She gave the cab driver a weak smile and grabbed her bags, exiting the car. Shouldering her backpack, Bella trudged to one of the benches in the town square and sat down heavily. She glanced around dispassionately, taking in the large, Medieval stone buildings that cast long shadows in the setting Italian sunlight.

"I know what you are," Bella whispered, hoping that somewhere in the dark shadows of the city, that someone was listening. "I'm not going to say anything, but I request a meeting. I'll be here, waiting."

The brunette waited, a heaviness seeping into her bones, as the tether around her neck seemed to increase in weight, bearing down on her soul. She felt heavy, like her arms and legs were made of lead and her head an anvil. She waited, hoping that she wasn't a puddle of goo and clothing by the time any vampire found her, that would be a terrible first impression, but she had a habit of those.

The shadows of the buildings grew longer as the sun sank lower in the sky until all there was were shadows around her. Two silent figures in black cloaks melted out of the darkness and moved towards the girl on the bench. Bella watched them with disinterest, unsure if they were moving slowly to intimidate her or to be wary of any human that could be watching. If they were trying to be intimidating, they were wasting their time with Bella; she was too tired to care.

"You are rather brave human," one of the cloaked figures said when they reached the seated girl. "Though brave and foolish are often interchangeable."

"I think stupid might be a better word," the other figure commented. "Are you really that interested in meeting your death human?"

"Yes," Bella replied automatically. If the figures were startled, they didn't visibly show it under the hoods of their cloaks. Bella stared at them; her eyes empty and allowed herself to truly feel the tiredness and pain that had built up in her body over the past few weeks. "Death is a blessing," she said in a flat voice, "no matter what form it takes."

The two stood there for a minute before one approached her, his towering form dwarfing her. He lowered his hood, revealing a young man with short dark brown hair and burning red eyes. He assessed her briefly, taken in her pale sink, sunken cheeks and hollow eyes. He turned his head to his companion and then back to the alley from where they came before turning back to Bella. "You are to come with us human," he said, his voice smooth, but harsh. "The mistresses are intrigued by you."

Bella registered his words and almost laughed, wanted to laugh. She didn't remember how though. Mistresses? Her mind thought, of course the Cullens would lie to her, why the fuck not. She couldn't find it in her to care though; fear and rage had drained out of her. There wasn't anything left for her to feel other than tired. She braced her hands on her legs and tried to push up, but to no avail. She chuckled then, realized the gravity of her situation.

"Well? Aren't you coming human?" The other figure asked, impatience lacing his tone.

"I would," the girl replied sighing, slumping back down on the seat, "but I can't move. Humans aren't as impervious as your kind, we're breakable, damaged, left exposed to the elements of human nature, we rot away and give in to our inherent weakness." She turned her blank eyes back to the two figures in front of them. "That's my problem, don't you see? I lingered here long enough to finally shatter, I'm spread all over this bench and the ground, I can't pick myself back up, too many pieces, too heavy, too tired."

The dark haired vampire stared at her in shock before taking her bags and handing them to his companion. He bent down to pick her up when the other one hissed at him, "Felix, what are you doing?"

"I, I'm not sure," Felix replied, his hands freezing momentarily in the air before he resumed his motion and picked up the small human. "But you heard her, she can't move on her own and the Queens want to see her. I'm not looking forward to spending the next year dismembered in the dungeons for displeasing them, are you Demetri?"

Demetri shuddered and followed Felix into the alley, watching as his coven mate carried the human. The deadness in her eyes frightened him, he had never seen a human look as she did, it was as if something was suffocating her soul, stealing it out of her body. It frightened him and for the first time in his immortal life, he was scared of a human, for a human. Death would be a blessing for this girl, and for him, if only to rid himself of the haunting image of her eyes.

They moved through the streets, heading for the castle entrance used by the tourist groups, cautious of the human package they were delivering. Bella's eyes flickered around as the vampires walked, tracking their path as they entered a large, castle-like structure. The two entered and made their way to the throne room, wanting to relieve themselves of the human girl as quickly as possible.

"I see you two managed to retrieve the human," Alec sneered at the sight of the girl just outside the throne room doors, "Though why are you carrying it Felix?"

"I- there's something wrong with her," Felix explained, "and it was faster to carry her than have her crawling here, the Mistresses wanted to see her right away."

Felix and Demetri walked into the throne room with Alec following closely behind them, scowling. "Demetri, Felix, I see you have returned with our guest," Sulpicia greeted from her throne in between her sisters. "Though I wonder why you have brought her to us in this state? Don't you know that humans are breakable?"

"We found her this way Mistress," Felix stated, his eyes low as he attempted to set the girl carefully on her feet. Demetri moved and held out his hand towards his Queen, letting her see his memory of the meeting.

Bella let herself be placed on her feet and swayed heavily, her hand unconsciously reaching out to grab hold of Felix. She could feel that damn cord pulling around her neck, unable to tug her back to Paul so it was pulling her into the earth itself. She managed to steady herself and released the vampire, her eyes focusing on the figures in front of her. A blonde woman in a tight corset and skirt sat in the throne on the left, a blonde man with a permanent sneer etched on his face stood next to her, his arms crossed over his chest. On the very right was a brunette woman with dark hair and a large man with long brown hair was casually leaning against her throne. Neither of them appeared to be interested in the scene in front of them, both staring at each other and giggling quietly. Bella felt her heart clench and her stomach churn violently at the sight of them, so she quickly turned her attention to the last queen.

The final queen had dark, almost black hair with lighter brown highlights. Her blood red dress accented her figure and burgundy colored eyes that were trained on Demetri's kneeling form. Bella watched with a slight bit of curiosity as the queen grasped the other vampire's hand, her brows furrowing as if she was concentrating on something.

"How interesting," Sulpicia murmured as she viewed the meeting with the human girl in the tracker's memory, "Felix if you would?" The large vampire moved from next to the human and offered his own hand towards the queen. Sulpicia viewed his memory as well, noting how the girl's words and appearance rocked the normally stoic vampires to the core. "Hmmm… how interesting." She turned her attention to the human girl in front of her, her mind cataloguing the girl's gaunt form and blank eyes. Her undead heart clenched at the sight of the human's hollow, dead-like eyes, agreeing with Demetri and Felix's assessment that it was both startling and frightening to see such eyes on a human, a _living_ human.

"Welcome to our home," Sulpicia said, moving down the stairs to step closer to the human. She reached out her hand in greeting, wanting to know the human's story. Bella glanced at the outstretched hand and slowly lifted her own arm, her body shaking with effort. Noticing the strain, Sulpicia moved her hand and gently took the warmer one in her grasp, her brow furrowing when the normal flow of memories did not accompany her touch.

"Even more interesting," she murmured, releasing the girl's hand, seeing it fall limply to the human's side. "Well it looks like we'll have to do things the old fashioned way, may we know you're name, how you know of us and why you're here?"

"Be- Belle," the brunette replied, "Isabelle Beaulieu now. I know about you… vampires… because I knew some… a few… They told me about you…"

"Hmm, this is most distressing," Sulpicia said, placing her left hand on her hip and lifted her right hand to stroke at her chin. "Did these vampires happen to tell you our main rule? Never tell a human and let them live, you must be either changed or killed."

"That's why I came," the brunette replied. "To die."

At her words, every vampire in the room stilled and turned their attention to the girl. Didyme and Marcus emerged from their own personal world and looked at the human. Marcus's eyes widened when he caught sight of the brunette human and moved quickly to Sulpicia. "You need to see this," he whispered before touching the back of her hand.

Sulpicia's eyes widened again as she saw the girl through Marcus's gift, looking on it horror as she saw a thick, black chain wrapped around Belle's throat with what looked like millions of tiny chains stretching from it, wrapping around her body. It was as if the cords were connected to the human's very soul, choking it, caging it, trying to smother the girl out of existence. Sulpicia could see a few other frayed bonds connected to the girl, but those were damaged beyond repair; one of them she could see had recently been cut. She didn't know how the human was standing, let alone still living with those chains wrapped around her like a prison.

"What did you see Marcus?" Didyme asked, curiosity lacing her tone. She spoke quickly so as not to alert the human, but it was as if the girl knew she was speaking as she turned her eyes towards the Queen. Didyme had to resist the urge to visibly flinch at the hollowness in her eyes.

"Does what he saw have any bearing on the matter at hand?" Athenodora asked, speaking for the first time. "I mean, she's a human, a human who knows about vampires, the law is very clear about this."

"I think it has bearing on what we do about the matter," Sulpicia said to her sister before turning back to Belle. "Isabelle, my sisters and I need to confer briefly about your request, and I suspect you've had a long journey. Why don't we provide you a guest room and food for the night to allow you to replenish your energies and we will meet again tomorrow."

At Sulpicia's words, tears filled Belle's eyes and she slumped to the ground boneless. "No please," she sobbed, her fingers clutching, almost clawing at the stone floor beneath her. "Please kill me, please, please I can't, please please." Belle collapsed on the floor, curling in the fetal position as she sobbed, her body shaking with the strain of her cries.

The few Volturi guards around the room stared at the human with mixtures of amusement and pity. Jane and Alec looked at the girl with disgust on their faces from their place at the foot of the dais. Felix and Demetri looked anywhere but at the sobbing human on the floor, not wanting to bear witness for fear of seeing anything more that would haunt their eternity. Didyme watched with sympathy and confusion, while Athenodora and Caius sneered.

Sulpicia was at a loss at what to do with the girl, knowing that she was suffering under a great strain, her soul being held hostage and smothered in her own body. "Felix, Demetri, if you could take her to a room and ask Giana to come watch her, bring her whatever she needs," the dark haired queen ordered before turning back to her sisters. "We need to discuss this now, Marcus, Caius, would you like to sit in?"

"I'm not much of a decision maker," Marcus said, "But in this instance, I believe I should be there."

"I'm more of a fighter than a politician," Caius added. "But I want to know why you both were so rattled by this human, and I need to know who broke the law and told her about vampires. As head of the guard, it is my job to enforce the law in these situations."

"We will get answers," Sulpicia told her brother-in-law. "They might have to wait, I doubt Isabella will be in any shape to provide the answers you want."

The five of them retreated to Sulpicia's office and situated themselves in the room. Sulpicia had just seated herself on her desk when Athenodora started the volley of questions. "What did you and Marcus see that so freaked you out?" She asked, "What's wrong with the girl?"

Sulpicia glanced at Marcus who looked away, unable to speak about what he saw. The queen sighed, "The girl… I don't know how she's still standing. There is a massive chain wrapped around her neck with millions of smaller chains wrapped around her body, choking her soul. That girl is literally being smothered to death in her own body."

The other three occupants of the room looked at Sulpicia and Marcus with horror and disgust. "What could do such a thing?" Didyme gasped.

"Better yet, what can we do about it?" Dora asked, "No one deserves that and the one who imprisoned the girl should have their entrails ripped out an burned." Occasionally, Sulpicia wondered how Athenodora and Caius's relationship worked with Caius being so prone to bloodlust and violence, but Dora was just as prone to violence, that statement proving it.

"We won't get any answers out of Isabelle at how she knows of vampires and who did this, what this is, until we resolve it," Sulpicia sighed, reaching into her desk to pull out a decanter of cognac. She pulled out five glasses and poured everyone in the room a drink before knocking back her own. "So what do we do?"

"Give the girl what she wanted," Athenodora replied immediately. "We don't know what this chain thing is, but that doesn't mean that the human doesn't know, though it clearly reeks of supernatural bullshit. She came to ask asking for death for a reason, maybe it prevented her from taking her own life and she knew that vampires would give her a way out, or…"

"Or she came here to request us to change her," Didyme completed. "Perhaps this human is more aware of our laws than we thought."

"So what, we just change her into a vampire without any justifiable reason?" Caius protested, "Newborns are angry, unpredictable and irritating. I say we just break through the haze of her mind, take the information we want and then just kill her. Why would we change her?"

"I couldn't read her," Sulpicia said after downing another glass of cognac before switching it out for a bottle of old bourbon, also stashed in her desk. "When I touched her hand, I didn't see anything. I'm not sure if it was because of the state of her mind and soul, or perhaps a gift manifesting. If it is a gift, a gift that could be trained and prove useful to us, it would be a shame to lose it."

"What kind of state will she be in if we change her though? You saw her, she could barely stand, will she even survive the process?" Dora questioned.

"That is something we will leave to Isabelle," Sulpicia stated firmly, looking at her sisters. "Are we in agreement that the girl will be changed?" Seeing her blonde and brunette sisters nod, she turned towards their mates, "Marcus, Caius?" The former nodded, while the latter huffed and looked away before reluctantly nodding as well. "Then we are agreed, I will inform Isabelle of our decision."

"Who will be the one to change her?" Didyme inquired.

"I will," Sulpicia replied, not realizing she had answered the question. Her face scrunched in confusion momentarily before shaking it off. "I should be the one to change her, none of you need the responsibility of siring a newborn right now, and judging by the reaction of our elite guards, I don't trust them to be able to change her."

Athenodora nodded, "Demetri and Felix seemed more likely to run away from the girl than change her, and Alec and Jane don't like humans, they would more likely snap her neck than change her."

The dark haired queen rolled her eyes at the mention of the twins, "They were changed too early in life. If I could've waited, 16 would've been better than 14 at least, but the situation was dire."

"If that is all sister," Didyme said, standing up, "Marcus and I are going to retire to our rooms. I imagine you're going to see to the matter as soon as Isabelle is awake?" Seeing her sister nod, the brunette nodded as well, "Then we'll leave you too it."

"We'll leave you to it as well," Dora agreed, standing as well. She grabbed hold of Caius's arm and started tugging him out of the room. "We're going to spar for a while, maybe I'll let you beat me this time."

"I would be most grateful my Queen," Caius replied, his voice low as the blonde woman drug him out of the room.

"They're going to spar naked in the training room again aren't they?" Sulpicia sighed out the question, placing one of her hands over her eyes.

"We'll let the guard know to stir clear, Dora and Caius's combined wrath is not a pretty, and I'd rather have the guard have a few limbs removed for a legitimate reason than interrupting those two's idea of foreplay," Didyme chuckled, pulling Marcus out of the room.

Alone in her office, Sulpicia downed another glass of bourbon before putting the bottle away and placing the used glasses on the table near the door for one of the human workers in the castle to clean. She left her office and retreated to her personal wing, shedding her dress as soon as she entered her rooms. Sauntering to her closest naked, Sulpicia pulled out a red dress shirt and tailored black pants, knowing that these clothes would be more comfortable to bend over and bite the girl. She grabbed some undergarments and pulled them on before putting her clothes on, tucking her shirt into her pants.

She left her room, wandering to the guest rooms in search of the girl. She found Felix and Demetri outside of the room, distress etched on their faces. "May we go Mistress?" Felix whispered."

The queen rolled her eyes at the weakness and fear displayed by her guards. "No you may not, you are to stay here and guard the room until I give you leave, even if the occupant of the room leaves, am I understood?" She ordered, glaring hard at the two.

"But Mis-"

"You will not leave," Sulpicia repeated firmly before entering the room. Her eyes drifted around the room before landing on the curled up form on the bed. The human's heartbeat was slowed, almost sluggish, but she knew the girl wasn't sleeping. Walking around the bed, Sulpicia saw Belle's face, her eyes blankly staring at the wall.

"Isabelle," she said softly, drawing the girl's attention. Dead eyes locked on her form and she again fought the urge to flinch. "Isabelle, we have decided to grant your request, but I want to know, do you want to die or do you want to be changed?"

"Changed," Belle whispered, looking into the burgundy eyes in front of her. "I want to live, I don't want this to beat me… I won't let this beat me, but I'm so tired…"

Sulpicia nodded, "There's a chance you won't survive, with the state of your body the change might kill you. Do you still want to be changed?"

"A slight chance to live is better than a confirmed death sentence."

"When do you wan-"

"Now, do it now, please," Belle whispered desperately, pushing herself into a sitting position. "I can't eat, can't sleep, the constant pressure… I'm just so tired."

"Very well," the queen replied before standing up and leaning over the girl. "Just relax," she whispered before sinking her teeth into Belle's neck. Sulpicia's eyes rolled back into her head at the taste of her blood, a rich floral scent combined with a sweet flavor, like chocolate covered strawberries. There was something else though, something underlying these flavors, something dark, addictive. The queen took a few more mouthfuls before pumping her venom into the wound. She quickly removed her mouth from the human's neck, sealing it with venom before hitting her wrists. Rolling up her left sleeve, she paused at the sight of a scar on the girl's wrist, a scar left by a vampire. Something inside of the queen growled in distaste at the scar and she quickly latched her teeth over it, inserting her own venom directly into the scar. She purred in delight when her older, more potent venom obliterated the foreign venom, and she carefully sealed the wound before biting the human's other wrist.

Sulpicia moved back in her seat after she finished biting the brunette and observed her carefully. The girl didn't scream, didn't cry out in pain, just whimpered and twitched occasionally on the bed. The facial expression on her face just as Sulpicia bit her though was one of relief, gratefulness, an expression that spoke of freedom. She lost track of time at how long she sat there watching the girl. Part of her mind wondered why she cared about a human so much, was concerned about a human, worried as to whether she would successfully change into a vampire. It perplexed her, and that angered her.

The queen stood up and exited the room quickly, making sure to remind Felix and Demetri that they were not to move from their position until she gave them leave to do so. She made her way to the training room, hearing that Caius and Athenodora had returned to their own rooms. Some of the lower guards were in the room and Sulpicia growled at them, ordering them to spar with her. She sparred no mercy, working out her frustrations through brutal violence, quickly reminding the guard why she was one of the queens of the vampire world.

She threw numerous guards around the room, her hands pulling tearing ripping as she gave into the haze. She exited the room hours later, leaving twelve guards behind in various pieces as she left without a scratch. She was still on edge though and found herself back in Belle's room, pacing in front of the bed where the girl lay changing. "Why did I come back in here?" Sulpicia hissed, her eyes darting to the girl. "What are you doing to me?" She dashed out of the room again, not sparring a glance at the two by the door. She returned to her chambers and grabbed her cloak, donning it as she slipped out of the castle into the night.

She glanced at the time as she left, seeing that it had been over a day since she had bitten the girl. Sulpicia left the city of Volterra, heading north to the more populated city of Florence. Siena was closer but she was craving the taste of Florentine blood, she always loved Italian cuisine. Roaming the shadows of the city, she quickly found what she was looking for, a human out at night, unaware of the creatures that went bump in the night. Sniffing slightly, Sulpicia reasoned that the tottering woman in front of her wouldn't be missed and grabbed hold of her, pulling her back into the darkness.

The woman didn't have time or the ability to scream since Sulpicia quickly snapped her neck and sunk her teeth into her neck. She drank deeply as she drained the woman entirely of blood before ditching the body in a local dumpster, spitting enough venom on the body before lighting it on fire. The venom would allow it to burn completely into ash without any noticeable human remains, unlike a normal fire. As she got older and the world changed, Sulpicia learned how to adapt with it in order to ensure the survival of her species.

She felt marginally better after hunting, the fresh blood in her system already calming her down, but she still felt slightly on edge, a fear present on the edge of her consciousness that the changing girl back at the castle wouldn't make it. Or that she was too far damaged, unhinged by the events in her life that she would be trapped with those characteristics forever. She growled in frustration as her thoughts turned to the human again. "Why do I care…?"

Sulpicia headed back to Volterra, passing her sisters as she re-entered the castle. "You seem a little off Cia," Dora commented, following the older vampire back to her rooms. "You wrecked the training room and a third of our lower guard, and then ran off hunting on your own, what's going on?"

"I don't, I don't know, I feel concern for that girl, scared for her, for what she might face if and when she wakes," Sulpicia murmured once she got into her rooms. "Why should I feel concern over her?"

"You changed her, sired her, of course you'd feel concern," Didyme replied, sitting softly on Sulpicia's bed.

"It's different," the dark haired queen said, shaking her head. "It feels different, like something is shifting inside of me." She paused for a moment while she was hanging her cloak back in her closet. "I'm going back to Belle's room." She flashed out of the room in the blink of an eye, her two sisters watching in bemusement.

"She's acting like you," Didyme said, looking at Athenodora.

"No way," Dora scoffed, "I would've taken out half of the lower guard at least, maybe two-thirds."

Sulpicia alternating pacing around Belle's room and sitting next to the girl's bed, staring at her as the changes occurred. Her venom coursing through the girl was ancient, potent as it worked its way through her veins, making her stronger, leaner, firmer. Most believed that younger vampires were dangerous, deadly, but age came with experience, wisdom, and a maturing of all features, including venom. She didn't stray from the room, too enthralled with observing the process, seeing the transformation. Belle's hair became fuller, healthier, the natural streaks of red and blonde become more pronounced. Her figure filled out in every area, the venom fixing what exhaustion and malnourishment caused.

Curiosity filled her; she knew that the change broke down defenses to build them up again, make them stronger. She stretched out her hand and brushed it against Bella's face, her mind assaulted with flashes, disjointed images of memories and voices. She saw brief glimpses of a red haired woman and a dark-haired man with a hideous mustache, blurry images of them fighting, then loneliness. She saw fleeting disjointed moments after that, nothing that stuck out, and then the flashes stopped, instead being replaced by voices, sounds. Sulpicia heard the words _singer, mate, Volturi, imprint_ combined with quick flashes of color and blurred memories. Just as she withdrew her hands, she heard two more words float into her head, _Gensis Project._

She looked at the girl in confusion. "How could you know about that?" She murmured, leaning back in her seat. The girl's shield was still in place while she was changing, but it weakened enough to allow her to see partial memories, not enough to provide answers on what she was looking for though. A few hours later, Sulpicia heard the girl's heartbeat pick up and Belle let out her first scream, the last few minutes were always excruciating as the venom finished burning away the last of humanity.

Her heartbeat shuddered to a stop and Belle's eyes snapped open, crimson eyes staring blankly at the ceiling for a minute. She took in a deep breath and scented someone else in her room. Her eyes flew to the person, identifying the Volturi Queen.

Sulpicia's eyes met those of the newly turned vampire and she felt something snap into place within her. Shit.

* * *

Sam watched with fear in his eyes as Paul raged around the forest, the silver wolf completely in a rage. The alpha could see into Paul's mind, feel as his imprint grew further and further away, further enraging the wolf. He was truly frightened by what he saw in Paul's mind, the anger, the desire to find Bella and drag her back, his teeth and claws reminding the girl to whom she belonged. Paul had already taken out his raged against Leah, the remnants of her mangled corpse buried in the woods and the action locked under an alpha command. They had told Sue that Leah had run away, her name being stricken from tribal records for being a traitor. Charlie comforted his girlfriend as best he could, his own child dead to him since she pulled a runner. Sam was truly frightened by Paul's thoughts.

A few days ago, in the midst of Paul's angry rampage, his wolf fell to the forest floor, howling in pain. The other wolves in the pack stayed away, but Sam stayed with Paul, monitoring his thoughts. Close to the end of the third day, the pain spiked and suddenly, something snapped inside of Paul, leaving part of his soul empty. _"It's gone,"_ Paul's wolf growled out in anger.

" _What's gone?"_ Sam questioned, trying to help his pack mate.

The silver wolf turned his golden, feral eyes onto the alpha, his tongue lolling out as he breathed heavily in anger. His fangs glistened and he stumbled to his feet, salvia falling from his mouth. _"The bond_ ," he growled out, _"It's gone."_

Sam's eyes widened as he took in what the wolf had said. Bella had done what they were told was impossible: she broke the imprint.

* * *

 **A/N: Some may believe that I'm** **presenting the Volturi as kind, or soft maybe after this chapter. I don't believe in such one-dimensional depictions of the Volturi either being good or bad. I view them as being an extremely complex entity, especially with three very different individuals such as Sulpician, Athenodora and Didyme in charge. Take them as individuals with individual beliefs before you assign a label to the Volturi as a whole, I'm not sure exactly where they'll fall on the spectrum.**

 **Review please**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I was trying to figure out why the last chapter was so much longer than this one even though they were the same length on the word document, but then I realized this chapter has more dialogue and less heartbreaking inner contemplations like the last one. Some of you guys were sad at Bella's condition, wanting to see how she'll turn out as a vampire. That is something that will be revealed as we'll go along. And I've noticed that a lot of you guys keeping saying that Seth should get away from the pack, or take revenge against them. Go back through and you'll notice that a certain somebody hasn't been mentioned at all in this story so far. I know why, I'm not sure if it'll ever be discusses in the storyline, but just know that Seth isn't a character that plays a big role in this story. I don't think we'll ever see him.

This chapter is pretty tame, relatively tame in terms of the dark aspects I mentioned, some stuff here and there. That stops after this chapter, it'll get worse. Proceed with caution in future chapters is what I'm saying.

Reviews are fun, please gives them

 **Posted: February 5th, 2016**

 **Chapter 4**

Sulpicia's eyes darkened as her beast took over completely once her eyes met those of the newborn, her _mate_. The younger vampire growled, issuing a challenge and the older beast answer with its own, more powerful roar, cowing the other into submission. She pounced on the girl and purred when her scent entered her nose and lungs, but growled when she detected another pair of scents just outside of the door. She grabbed the younger vampire, holding her close to shield her from prying eyes and she rushed out of the room, retreating to the safety of her own chambers.

She sealed the door to her private wing before taking Belle to her own room, setting her down once they were safely locked behind the doors. The newborn hissed, her eyes pitch black as she circled around Sulpicia, the older vampire answering again with a growl and a pounce, pining the brunette down onto her bed. Bella fought weakly against the hold, wanting to challenge the other for dominance though her instincts already submitted as a purr started rumbling in her chest.

The queen's eyes grew impossibly darker as she heard the purr and smelled her mate's arousal. After millennia of waiting for her mate, the girl walks through her door begging to be changed, to be turned with _her_ venom. Sulpicia growled in delight, striking quickly, not wanting to waste any more time, having her mate wandering around unmarked. Her fingers shredded the last barriers of clothing separating her from her mate's flesh. Before the brunette could think, Sulpicia was buried in her mate, causing the younger vampire to shriek as the last shred of her innocence was broken. Another purr of delight came from the queen's chest as she realized what her mate had saved for her, reserved only for her.

"Yes," Sulpicia hissed as she coated her fingers in her venom to seal the wound. "Yes, I will be the first to have you, the only one to have you for the rest of eternity." She watched the girl flail desperately on the bed, scratching and pulling on the queen's body. The minute that the younger vampire's body arched up and her head flew back with a scream, Sulpicia bit down on her neck, marking her, prolonging her pleasure. "Are you thirsty my mate?" The queen asked, purring. "Is your hunger driving you as crazy as your pleasure?"

"God yes," Belle gasped out, the burning in her throat heightening the burning in her womb, matching the clenching desire for something, anything.

"You will drink from me my mate," Sulpicia growled out, using her left arm to tug the girl upwards, holding her head to her neck. "Your first drink is always memorable, and yours will be from me. You will remember this for the rest of eternity, drinking your first taste of blood and venom while I make you scream, while I make you feel immeasurable pleasure."

Bella struggled slightly but bit down when the older woman hit a particular spot, moaning at the taste of blood and her mate's venom. Sulpicia hissed out at the mixture of pain and pleasure as Bella drank from her. "Yes my mate, take my blood, my venom, grow stronger," she said as she felt the pleasure in her mate's body grow again. She hit that particular spot inside her mate, the one she felt just minutes ago, she hit it repeated, causing her Belle to bite down harder as she screamed in pleasure again. The queen moaned her own release, her body mirroring the pleasure of her mate as she bit her again, directly over the heart. Belle's hands had lowered and started to touch her, immersing herself in Sulpicia's essence.

The two continued for several more hours before collapsing on the bed, the remnants of the bed, both needing blood and a temporary break. Sulpicia ushered her young mate into the shower, bathing her lovingly before dressing her and taking her out of the castle. Belle whimpered and clutched at her throat, causing the queen to pull the younger vampire into her. "Hold your breath," she whispered, "And if you have to breathe, press your face up against me."

The brunette nodded and pressed closer to the older vampire. Sulpicia grabbed her hand, thanking every deity she could think of that it was dark out, and took the girl to the closest city outside of Volterra. She wouldn't break one of her own rules about hunting in the city, it was forbidden for all vampires to prevent attention being drawn to them. "It's too dangerous for you to find your own food darling," Sulpicia said, tucking a strand of Belle's hair behind her ear as she stared into her pitch black eyes. "I need you to stay here and be a good girl for me while I bring you something to eat."

Belle nodded and the queen disappeared, leaving the girl in a deserted alley. She clamped a hand over her mouth and nose to prevent any kind of smell from seeping through into her system, her other hand clutched at the wall behind her, her fingers digging into the stone as an anchor. Sulpicia appeared and dropped two bodies in front of Belle, holding another human already drained of blood. Belle lunged for the two bodies and ripped their throats out, greedily drinking the blood. Luckily Sulpicia knew that newborns were typically messy eaters so she had already broken the necks of the two men to reduce the arterial spray.

The newborn finished her meal, happily licking her lips, her face and clothes sprayed with blood. "You feel better precious?" Sulpicia cooed, stroking her mate's face, licking off some of the stray blood. Belle purred and snuggled closer to the older vampire, rubbing her face into her breasts. "Mhm, I know, let's get home and get you cleaned up, after which we can have a conversation, talk. I'm sure that my sisters also have a few questions." The brunette nodded and the two ran back to the castle, the older vampire pushing the speed of the younger one faster and faster.

When they returned, Sulpicia found both of her sisters waiting for her outside of her rooms. Belle hid behind Sulpicia slightly at the sight of the other two, her instincts making her wary of the older vampires. "We had heard some murmuring amongst the guard and came to see if it was true," Didyme said, her eyes on the brunette vampire pressed up against her older sister.

"Is the newborn really your mate Cia?" Dora asked, stepping closer to the two only to move back in shock when her older sister growled at her.

"I need to get my mate cleaned up. I'll come talk to you two and Caius and Marcus in my office in a while," Sulpicia said, ushering her mate through the door.

"You just remember that, no funny business," Didyme called as she shut the door, locking them out of her space.

Belle had already stripped out of her clothing, staring curiously at herself in the full-length mirror. "You know darling," Sulpicia started, coming up behind the girl and wrapping her arms around her, one hand sliding up to cup Belle's breast. "You make it very difficult to focus, especially seeing you stripped and ready for me like this… but I'm afraid if we don't get cleaned up and ready in a timely manner, my sisters are going to come in here and I don't want to be forced to remove their eyes for seeing you in this kind of needy situation." The queen managed to keep her tone light as she guided Belle to the bathroom, all the while casually talking about permanently maiming her sisters as if she were discussing the weather.

Sulpicia quickly but thoroughly washed Belle and dressed her before ushering her out of her rooms into her office. Her sisters and their mates were in the room already waiting for them. Marcus's eyes widened when he saw both of them, his mouth dropping open. "So it's true," Didyme said, seeing the reaction from her mate, "Isabelle is Sulpicia's mate."

"We'll get to that, but first we need to talk about other things," Sulpicia said, though her beast was purring with pleasure inside of her at the verbal confirmation that the girl was her mate. She pushed the brunette down onto the love seat and sat next to her, taking her hands. "You haven't spoken much since you awoke from the change, I admit I probably didn't give you the opportunity." Athenodora and Didyme chuckled at that statement, causing Sulpicia to send them a dark look. "Anyway, what do you remember exactly?"

Belle tilted her head, scrunching her face slightly, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Do you know what we are, who we are and where we are?" Dora asked, interrupting her sister from dancing around the conversation.

"Vampires, I know we're vampires," Belle replied, "But I don't know how I know that." The brunette turned to the dark haired woman sitting next to her, "I know that you're Sulpicia, and I feel that you're my mate, but I don't know the rest of you, I don't remember much of anything really."

"I was afraid that could happen," Marcus sighed. When the occupants of the room turned to him, he elaborated his statement, "Belle…"

"That's my name right?" The brunette asked, looking at Sulpicia. "I mean, you called me Belle earlier…"

"Yes, you came to us a few days ago," Sulpicia explained, pulling the brunette closer to her. "You introduced yourself as Isabelle Beaulieu."

"Isabelle," the brunette murmured, nodding her head. "I like it, can you call me Isabelle?"

"Of course Isabelle," Sulpicia replied, brushing her nose against her mate's cheek, "I will call you whatever you want."

Caius huffed impatiently, "Don't you two start up again, Marcus was going to explain to us why he was afraid she would lose her memories."

The dark haired queen rolled her eyes before looking at her brunet brother. "Right, Isabelle, some vampires have gifts, extra abilities other than normal vampire traits. My gift is that I can see bonds, relationships between people. When you came here, you had these chains wrapping around your soul, smothering you, basically imprisoning you in your body. I was afraid that even if the chains broke, you would be damaged in some way, in a permanent way. I fear your memories were destroyed during the change since they were linked to how your spirit and mind came to be chained."

"So you're saying that when those chains were broken, her memories were destroyed?" Dora asked, looking from Marcus to Isabelle.

Marcus nodded, "There might be other ramifications that we don't know about yet."

"So how are we supposed to get answers about who caused those chains, or how she knows about vampires?" Caius thundered, "We changed her to get some answers, and now she is useless to us."

Sulpicia growled and launched herself at Caius, one of her hands clenched around his neck as she held him against the wall. "Watch what you say about my mate Caius," she hissed, her fingers tightening. "You just remember that you may be my sister's mate, but I will end you if you even look at my mate in the wrong way."

"Cia," Dora sighed, rolling her eyes. "Let him go, you know that he is a hot head. I'll keep him in line, he won't do anything or I'll end him myself."

The queen growled again before releasing the blonde man, watching in satisfaction as he slumped to the floor. "If it helps, I saw fragments of your memories while you were changing," Sulpicia explained when she sat back down next to her mate. "I can see every memory with a single touch, but we think you have a gift of some kind, blocking your mind. The block came down slightly when you were changing, but your memories must've been slipping already because they were disjointed, I only saw fragments."

"Did you see anything helpful? Anything to tell you who I am or why I came to you?" Isabelle asked, confusion and fear entering her voice.

Sulpicia glanced from her mate to her sisters, a silent debate whirling through her mind. The memories she saw from her childhood were simple, nothing to tell about them, as she couldn't make out clear images of Isabelle's parents. The blurriness of their faces and bodies indicates that the pair did not leave much of an impression on her life. "I heard a string of words," Sulpicia decided finally, "Words that probably greatly affected your life."

"What sort of words?" Isabelle asked.

Instead of answering, the queen formulated a question of her own, one she had thought of since viewing Isabelle's fragmented memories. "Isabelle… what is an imprint?"

At her words, something snapped inside of the younger vampire, and her mind completely blanked as her eyes blackened and rage filled her body. She flew backwards away from her mate, her vision tinting red, descending into a haze. She grabbed one of the end tables and tossed it into the wall before taking her hands to the walls and floor, leaving great claw marks in the stone. "Marcus, Caius, get her out of here," Sulpicia ordered, shocked at her mate's sudden shift. "Take her to the training room, allow her to work out her rage on some of the lower guard. Maybe grab Felix and Demetri from where I left them and allow her to beat some respect into them."

Caius hissed as the newborn bit into his arm but he nodded, and he and Marcus drug the girl out of Sulpicia's office and towards the training room. "What the hell was that about?" Dora asked, inspecting the damage done by the newborn. "I know newborns generally have drastic mood swings, but that was a little much."

"That wasn't just a mood swing, she reacted to that word," Didyme said, "Imprint, but why would she react to that word?"

"I don't know, but I want to find out. Something about that word set her off, I need to know more about it," Sulpicia sighed, sitting down behind her desk. "And I heard more when I saw her memories, someone told her about us, or at least what they believed to be true about us, brief mentions of Caius, Marcus and that rat bastard as Kings of the Volturi."

"Ugh, you mean my no good brother," Didyme hissed. "That could be any coven or vampire other than the old crowd, they know who's really in charge."

"I'm afraid it's worse than that, whoever it was spun the tale that the girl was their mate, but she was actually their singer," the older vampire growled, her eyes darkening. "She was being coerced into slaughter, being raised and fed like the suckling pig for dinner."

"That seems a bit much for the brief voices you heard," Dora commented, crinkling her nose at the destroyed recliner.

"What would you expect knowing that a vampire was courting their singer?" Sulpicia retorted.

Dora and Didyme glanced at each other, both shrugging before deciding to change the conversation. "So what are we going to do?" Didyme asked, "We need answers."

"My first priority right now is my mate, and making sure that she is safe, happy, and adjusted," the dark haired queen said, determination coloring her features. "And for finding out who hurt my mate in such a traumatic way that would cause her memories to be erased."

"Are you going to be training her?" Dora questioned, leaning forward in her seat.

Sulpicia sighed, "Not as much as I want. Felix and Demetri are pathetic, and I can't trust her with Alec and Jane. I thought Chelsea and Afton would be good for her, and maybe Chelsea would be able to monitor her with her gift."

"Marcus can help as well, though fighting isn't his thing, he can help with other studies though," Didyme said.

"I would offer Caius, but you know how he feels about newborns, though Isabelle biting him might make Caius respect her a little bit more," Dora chuckled.

"I'm going to retrieve my mate from the training room," Sulpicia stood up. "Her anger can be worked out in more… pleasurable ways…"

"We'll take care of things while you're disposed," Didyme grinned while Dora wiggled her eyebrows. "And we'll also start researching imprint. There has to be an alternative meaning to the word."

"And we do want to have a proper conversation with her at some point," the blonde queen called after her older sister.

The queen strode through the corridors, heading towards the training room. She grinned wolfishly at hearing the ferocious roars of her mate and the frantic movements of the guards to get out of her way. Opening the doors, Sulpicia moved to stand next to Caius as he observed the destruction of the room with an amused expression on his face.

"Marcus returned to his music room?" The queen asked, her eyes tracking her still enraged mate as she flung the guards around the room.

Caius snorted, "You know he got his fill of war in his human life and since his wife is a queen and one of the scariest people I know, he can fulfill his passion of being a bard." He rolled his eyes and huffed, "What a Greek."

"Common knowledge that you didn't fulfill your passion for bloodshed in your human life," Sulpicia returned, "What makes you think he has?"

"Basic differences, Marcus was Greek, an Athenian specifically, I was part of the Harii; our lust for battle will never die."

Sulpicia fought against her instincts to roll her eyes at hearing the superiority in her brother's voice. The Harii; the legendary Germanic ghost army known for their stealth and the ability to decimate entire armies. The dark queen knew what it was like, to be lost in war and bloodshed, herself being raised as an Amazon warrior, but she did not cling to her human life, not over 3,000 years later. A sneer crossed Sulpicia's face when she spotted Felix and Demetri cowering in the corner, their arms slowly reconnecting with their bodies. "Those two are proving themselves to be useless," the queen said, nodding her head slightly at the buffoons.

Caius rolled his eyes, "It would appear that they need to be retrained; I won't have our senior guard be such weaklings." He stomped over to the two, ripping them of the ground before dragging them to another section of the training room and tearing them apart again. Sulpicia smirked at her brother before sauntering over to her mate, gently pulling her away from wrecking her lower guard any further.

"Come darling," Sulpicia purred in her ear, knowing that would calm her wild mate now that she has had the opportunity to burn off some anger. "Let's work out your anger through more pleasurable avenues."

Isabelle growled and started to drag the queen out of the room, following the route back to their rooms. Sulpicia smirked at her eager mate, tossing her over her shoulder and dashed back to her chambers. As they entered the room and started tearing their clothing off, an idea festered in the back of the queen's mind, one that wouldn't become a full realization until much later. She hadn't mentioned the Genesis Project.

* * *

"Where had Paul gone Sam?" Billy Black asked, his eyes boring into those of the alpha wolf.

"I- I'm not sure Chief Black," Sam replied hesitantly. He had come to the tribal council to tell the elders about his suspicions, that Bella Swan had found a way to break the imprint. Before he could go to the council, Paul's wolf attacked him, overpowering him before taking off into the forest. Sam hadn't been able to track him immediately since the silver wolf had mangled his legs, but he howled, sending the other wolves after the rogue wolf. Jake helped him to the tribal council hall to face the elders with him as his beta. "He took off after attacking me, but I immediately sent Jared, Quil and Embry after him, Colin and Brady are running patrol as we speak."

"I want to know who that insolent girl thinks she is, breaking a gift of the spirits. To be tied to a protector is a great honor," Old Quil spat out, his eyes burning with anger and hatred.

"And how did she even break the imprint?" Sue questioned. "The previous packs' said that the imprint could only be broken in death, but that the wolf would soon follow. It sounds like Paul is still alive, so how did the ungrateful whelp do it?"

"She needs to be punished," Billy states. "She needs to be brought back here and face pack justice for daring to refuse a gift of the spirits and for harming one of the chosen protectors in such a way, shaming him. The females of this generation, so entitled."

Sue snorted, "I would suggest finding Leah as well, but I don't care to ever lay my eyes on the ungrateful child ever again."

"Leah is banished for abandoning her post, she is no longer allowed to return for fear of death from the pack," Billy said. Sam fought to keep his face from revealing any emotion relating to Leah's name, knowing that her body lay buried in the forest already, mangled by Paul's rage.

"Sam," the chief barked, drawing the alpha's attention.

"Yes Chief Black?" He asked, nodding his head.

"This happened under your watch, while you were in charge of the pack," Billy said, attempting to stare down the young man. "I'm tempted to order you to step down and for Jacob to take his rightful place as Alpha, but I don't want to interfere too much in pack business. You will fix this mess though Sam, or it'll be your head."

The alpha nodded and grabbed Jacob, dragging him out of the council hall. "We need to find Paul," Sam hissed, "I won't be held responsible for this, for your mess."

"My mess?" Jacob bit back, ripping his arm out of Sam's hold. "What do you mean by my mess?"

"If you hadn't started bringing that leech lover around, telling her about the pack and that shit, then Paul wouldn't have imprinted on her and this wouldn't have happened!"

"Well if you had gone against the treaty like the council wanted and attacked the Cullens once we started phasing, then Bella wouldn't have been a leech lover and might not have been coming down here. I could have visited her in Forks!"

"You would've had me go up against a coven of seven vampires, with only three wolves? Five maybe? Young, untrained wolves? It would have been a massacre, and then what would've stopped those leeches from coming onto tribal land and slaughtering everyone, all of our families as they sleep?"

Jacob scoffed, "We could've taken them out."

"And this is why I'm the alpha," Sam spat. "You would've led us to certain slaughter if you were in charge. We can barely catch one rogue vampire running around, how would you expect us to go up against an entire coven?"

"Whatever," Jacob rolled his eyes. "How are we going to find Paul? He took off hours ago."

"He's still pack, we can find him through the mind link," Sam replied, stripping off his shorts and tying them around his ankle. He started shaking, exploding into a giant black wolf, quickly followed by a russet wolf.

 _"Sam, Jacob,_ " Jared's voice came through their minds, _"Thank the spirits, you have to come quick."_

 _"Is it Paul? Have you found him?"_ Sam questioned as they started running in the direction they sensed the other wolf.

 _"No, Embry and Quil are still looking for him."_

 _"Then what is it?"_ Jacob asked.

 _"It's Collin and Brady, they're going at each other, tearing into each other, I can't get them to stop, I don't even know why they started fighting."_

Sam and Jacob pushed faster, racing through the forest until they heard the sound of snarling wolves and clashing teeth and claws. They burst through the trees and spotted a reddish brown wolf with his jaws clamped around the front left leg of an ash brown wolf. The wolf howled in pain and struck back at the other, batting him away with his paw, while a brown wolf struggle to pull them apart.

 _"Sam, I need help_ ," Jared cried, getting shoved away by the wolves. _"You guys need to order them apart!"_

 _"Collin, Brady,"_ the dark wolf growled, his tone laced with power. _"Stop fighting and move away from each other right now."_ The two fighting wolves snarled and moved each other away from each other slightly, only moving away completely when Jacob barked at them as well.

 _"Cut it out you two, what is wrong with you?"_ Jacob growled, approaching the younger wolves. _"Brady, Collin!"_ The wolves paid him no attention, still growling at each other.

Jacob charged forward and grabbed Collin between his jaws, getting a good grip on the smaller wolf's neck. He shook his head, shaking the wolf, knocking him against the ground a few times. _"Jake, wha…"_ Collin's hesitant voice filtered into his mind. " _Jake stop, let me go!"_

 _"Give Brady a good shake Sam, it seems to snap them out of it, whatever this is,"_ Jake said, releasing the younger wolf. Sam followed the advice and grabbed Brady, tossing him around as Jake suggested. The black wolf gave the ash brown wolf a few extra shakes for good measure, even when he started crying for him to stop.

 _"What is wrong with you?"_ Sam snapped out, _"Why were you fighting each other?"_

Brady and Collin cocked their heads before glancing at each other, taking in the blood and bite marks staining their fur. _"I don't… I don't know,"_ Collin replied, confused. _"I don't actually remember attacking Brady. The last thing I remember was running patrol and then Jake slamming me into the ground."_

 _"I remember something else,_ " Brady included, shakily getting to his feet, _"I remember some kind of garbled voice in my head, nothing concrete or clear, just whispers, thoughts, suggestions. I don't even remember what they said, I just remember feeling angry, like full of rage and the desire for blood."_

 _"Yeah,_ " Collin nodded his furry head, _"I remember that too. It felt like I had to attack something, anything, and you were the closest thing… Or maybe I had to attack you?"_

The two snuffled at each other's wounds while the three older wolves looked nervously at each other. _"What is this Sam?"_ Jared asked, _"What would make them attack each other? Those two are like brothers."_

 _"I don't know,"_ Sam replied. _"And we can't go to the elders, not until we've found Paul. If we go back and we don't have him with us, it'll be our heads."_

 _"What if this is related to Paul somehow?"_ Jake questioned. When the other two turned their heads towards him, he continued, _"You said it yourself Sam, when the imprint broke, Paul's mind kind of splintered, maybe it's affecting us too."_

 _"It's a possibility,"_ Sam huffed out, swiping at his muzzle with his paw, _"But we won't know for sure until we find him."_

 _"Hate to cut in, although this is really fascinating and scary as shit,"_ Quil's voice filtered into their minds. _"But Embry and I think we found his trail, you guys better get here quick."_

 _"Thanks Quil,"_ Sam called back. _"Jared, you stay here with Collin and Brady, run patrols with them. Don't let them be alone, until we figure out what is going on, they are to never be alone."_

* * *

 **A/N: What's up with Brady and Collin? Any thoughts? This chapter was pretty placid actually, it will be getting worse in the next chapter.**

 **And for those worried that Bella/Isabelle will be an exceptionally controlled newborn, no, that's not what is happening. I'm going with the idea that as a vampire grows older, their venom becomes more potent and refined, having more practice at existing than younger vampires' venom. Sulpicia is well over 3,000 years old, her venom is ancient, so by changing Bella, her venom is** **running through Bella. It has more experience, but Bella will still go through newborn moments as she is adjusting, you just won't see all of it.**

 **This is a close to smut as I will get, and since this is what you would find in young adult novels, it's fine.**

 **Review please**


	5. Chapter 5

**Review please!**

 **Posted:**

 **Chapter 5**

The silver wolf stalked through the tree line, his golden eyes tracking the brunette jogging on the abandoned strip of road. Night had descended as he followed the girl, venturing further and further down the lonely road. A terrible grin crossed the wolf's face, sharp, yellow teeth on full display as he watched the girl hungrily. As the girl turned down a path into the forest that was a short cut back to her house, he struck. The wolf flew out of the forest, his massive jaws closing around the brunette's torso. He relished in her screams of terror and frightened gasps. Clenching his jaws more tightly around her, cutting through the flimsy fabric, the wolf growled in delight as blood began to seep out of his prey, staining his teeth and gliding down his throat.

The screams of the girl shifted into sticky, wet coughs before silencing completely, her frantic struggles halting. The silver wolf dropped the girl on the ground, angered that fear was no longer coursing through her. He snarled, taking his teeth and claws to the mangled corpse to display his displeasure, ripping her throat and clawing her body. Slicing her chest, he devoured her heart and lungs, taking joy in consuming what gave the girl life, what pumped blood and air through her body.

Finally, the wolf took his claws to the girl's head, shredding the primary indicator of identity and self-worth of every human, her face. But her hair, her hair he left intact, rolling the body over so he could get a better look at the long, brunette strands. He shifted into his two-legged form, golden eyes staring and hands fingered the brown curls reverently, brown curls reminiscent of _that_ girl, his imprint, his. He growled angrily at the thought of the girl, of the girl that dared to take what was his away from him. His hands fisted in the brown strands and he yanked, tearing a chunk of the hair away from the scalp.

He stood up, scenting the air around him and dashed north on two legs, finding a pond in a small clearing. He rinsed his body off, washing away any remnant of the blood and stench of the useless corpse, taking great care to wash his grotesque souvenir as well. Finding a thin reed close to the water, he bound his souvenir with a knot, placing it in a hollowed tree he located just south of the pond. He wouldn't have his possessions taken from him; they were his.

He stepped away from the tree and resumed running on his paws rather than in his two-legged form. He angled his body back towards his native lands, his claimed territories, wanting to return to his homeland after a less than satisfying hunt. _"Paul, dude."_ A voice filtered into his mind through the anger and haze of disappointment, and he spotted a chocolate brown wolf and a gray, black spotted wolf bursting through the trees. _"Sam we found him!"_

The two wolves paused in front of him and he stared at them, hearing another two sets of paws approaching. Large black and russet wolves emerged through the trees, melting out of the darkness. _"Paul_ ," another voice spoke through his mind as the black wolf approached him. _"We have been looking for you for days, where I have you been?"_

 _"I needed time away,"_ he replied, _"Everything that happened, I needed to process it for a while, some time away."_

The black wolf looked at him warily before nodding, _"I understand, it's terrible what you're going for, but we were concerned. We're pack mates, we help each other, though we will understand if you need to take time away, just let us know the next time you want time away."_

 _"I will,"_ he replied, knowing that it was what they wanted to hear. They wouldn't keep him from his desires, from looking for _her,_ hunting her down. The five wolves turned and started back towards La Push, and he followed, lagging in the back. He could hear them in his mind, bickering with each other. Embry, Quil and Jacob were particularly immature, rough housing with each other as they ran, tumbling in the dirt and the leaves.

His mouth twisted in a silent snarl. These weaklings would not keep him from his task, from retrieving his property. They would not stop him, he would find her. He would find her and teach her for trying to leave him.

"One thing I'm confused about," Athenodora started as she, Sulpicia and Didyme were lounging in the blonde's private sitting room. "How did you not recognize Isabelle as your mate when she first came? I mean it's not unusual for a vampire to find their mate in a human, we've seen it happen before, but it's instant. You didn't know until after she had finished changing, don't you think that's a little bit suspicious?"

"I had that same question," Sulpicia confessed. "I was there when you found Caius, Dora, covered in dark paint and blood, sweaty and disgusting from battle. You couldn't get to him and bite him fast enough; one minute you were next to me, the next you were on top of him, biting his neck."

Dora groaned at the memory, letting her head fall back on the couch, "He was so hot though, the smell of blood, sweat and smoke, so sexy. It was either I changed him so I could fuck him, or fuck him, then change him. If I had fucked him first, I would've crushed his dick, and that would've been a true tragedy against both humanity and vampirism."

"I'm sure a great tragedy."

Didyme coughed, drawing their attention. "If you two are done with your bickering, I could tell you that I wondered the same thing, so I asked Marcus after our chat the other day."

"And what does the bard have to tell us? Do enlighten us sister," Dora said, flicking her hand around in a 'hurry up' gesture.

Rolling her eyes, Didyme continued, "Marcus said that the mating bond was most likely hindered by whatever it was that was caging Isabelle's soul. Those chains were restricting her soul to her body so that it couldn't reach out and touch other souls, couldn't entangle with them."

"It was a twisted mating bond," Sulpicia murmured as she listened to Didyme's explanation. At the questioning looks from her sisters, Sulpicia continued, "Think about it. Those chains were keeping Isabelle's soul trapped in her body, preventing it from interacting with other souls, forming other types of bonds. It sounds like a perversion of a mating bond, a jealous mating bond that wants the one it is imposed on totally focused on the other."

"If that's true, then the one who forced this bond on Isabelle would then be able impose his or her will on the girl. She wouldn't have her free will taken away, but she could be controlled, contained, even tracked," Dora stated, horrified. "Sulpicia, we need to find who did this, this stinks of supernatural, and creatures who do this shouldn't be allowed to exist."

"Are you sure that's not just your hatred of werewolves leaking over onto other species?" Didyme asked, smirking at her sister.

"Children of the Moon are the vilest creatures on the planet and should and will be wiped out once I finish with them," Dora protested, "They force their vile sickness on others, children, infecting them with their disease and unwanted mating bonds to further their filth. You don't think one of those disgusting creatures got his claws into her do you?"

"She would've been bitten and be a werewolf now if it had been one of them," Sulpicia countered. "There was something disconcerting though, a vampire bite on her left wrist."

"What the fuck, what the hell happened to this girl while she was human?" Athenodora yelled, standing up. "And how the hell is she still human if she was bitten by a vampire?"

"There were two bite marks, one attempting to overlap another, but was too small. It would seem that someone bit the girl and someone else sucked the venom out," Sulpicia said, a frown on her face. "I sensed this when turning her, and my venom burned through all traces of the foreign venom, my beast would not allow her to be tainted anyway longer. Someone has broken the law, which is there to protect both humans and vampires, and that someone must pay."

"How are we going to do that? Have you forgotten that whatever happened to her was so closely entwined with who she was as a human that her memories, the memories of her identity, were completely destroyed during the change," Didyme countered.

Dora moved over towards her desk in the room and picked up a few pieces of paper in her hand before handing them to her oldest sister. "I went to retrieve Isabelle's things from the room she had been in when you two first went out hunting, just her identification papers, everything else is still in that room. Wanting to see the damage you created when you were busting out to rush her to your chambers to mate with her, I found these documents in her bag." Sulpicia looked at the papers, noting that they were identification for Isabelle Beaulieu, French-Canadian citizenship. "These papers are too clean, too ordered to be real identification papers. The background information is also too clean and straightforward to be the work of any human forger, maybe even too well done for a vampire. Your mate was running from something supernatural with the help of other supernatural beings."

Sulpicia groaned and rubbed her forehead with her fingers, "I seem to have been given a mate who comes with baggage and difficulties she doesn't even realize she has."

"You always liked difficult problems Cia, don't even deny it," Didyme chided, "And don't even try to deny it. You were an Amazon, a group of female warriors thriving in a time of large, masculine presence. Difficult problems are how you amuse yourself, hence why you changed us and took over the vampire world."

"I do love a challenge," Sulpicia admittedly sighed.

"Speaking of challenges, where is your mate? It's been what, only about a week since she was changed. I can't believe that you would let her out of your sight this early in your mating," Didyme teased.

"I introduced her to Chelsea and Afton to start training her with fighting since I can't trust her with anyone else and Caius is busy," the dark haired queen explained. "Heidi has also claimed her as her best friend, and decided to take her shopping, do some exposure therapy training with human blood. Best to start early for both of those things."

"Doesn't answer why you aren't with them for either of those activities," Dora pointed out, sitting back down next to her oldest sister.

The dark queen narrowed her eyes and glared at the wall, "It was decided that I would be a determent to those, being to protective to allow her to fight or too territorial to go clothes shopping." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I'm being bossed around by my own guards."

"Those three are our most loyal guards, I would be surprised if they weren't getting cheeky," Dora sighed before standing up. "You two can stay in here if you want, but I'm going to go watch my mate beat the stuffing out of the lower guard, and torture Felix and Demetri for a while."

"Don't forget we have a meeting tomorrow with a representative from the EU," Sulpicia reminded her sister. "I know that you get distracted watching your mate work."

"Well, I can now finally say, speak for yourself Cia," Dora smirked before disappearing out of the room.

Didyme looked at her sister in amusement, "She's not lying. You having a mate now means that you now experience the same problems that Dora and I do, having to choose between responsibilities and every day life, and spending all of our time with our mates." Sulpicia rolled her eyes but chose not to comment, knowing that both Didyme and Dora were more than likely correct with their assertions. "What does the EU want this time sister?" The younger queen asked, changing the topic away from teasing the older vampire.

"I think they're hoping to funnel out inmates again so if the meeting goes well, we might be able to have another game in the near future," the dark queen answered absentmindedly, feeling an ache growing in her heart.

"You feeling the pull?" Didyme asked, watching her sister unconsciously place her hand over her heart.

"I've got to go, I'll see you later Dy," Sulpicia said, rushing out of the door. Didyme chuckled as she watched her sister rush out to find her newly turned mate, deciding to follow after both of her sisters' examples and find her mate.

Sulpicia rushed through the castle towards where she felt her mate, back in their private chambers. She reached their rooms and found Heidi helping her mate hanging up new clothes in the large closest Sulpicia had cleared out for her. It was filled with clothes that she hadn't worn in centuries, so she was willing to put them in storage to make Isabelle feel more comfortable.

The younger vampires noticed her entry into the room and while Heidi straightened and took a step back, lowering her head, Isabelle brightened and jumped on the taller woman, winding her arms and legs around her.

The queen settled her arms around her mate to secure the brunette's body to herself, her nose pressed into Isabelle's neck. "Did you have a good time training with Chelsea and Afton, and then out with Heidi?"

Isabelle nodded her head and Sulpicia tracked her eyes to the mahogany haired guard, probing for further information. "Mistress," Heidi greeted, nodding her head slightly, "I was with Mistress Isabelle in the training room with Afton and Chelsea, they were teaching her the basics on how to test and moderate her strength, she did very well for her first day, only ripped through some of the pieces of cloth and paper." Isabelle twisted her head slightly and stuck her tongue out at the guard, causing her to smirk. The queen cleared her throat, drawing their attention again.

"I took Isabelle shopping for clothes and exposure therapy with humans," Heidi continued, turning her attention back to the queen. "She did well as there, but had to feed on the way back. We did get a great deal of clothes though, a wide variety of them in fact."

"Hmm, I can't wait to see them," Sulpicia purred into her mate's ear, delighting in the answering purr that resonated within the younger vampire. "Heidi," the queen spoke, not looking at the guard, "Get out, and tell Afton that I want to see him and Chelsea tomorrow after my meeting and after Isabelle's training session."

The guard disappeared out of the queen's room, leaving the dark woman with her young mate. Sulpicia carefully undressed Isabelle, stripping off her own dress before settling on the bed, holding her purring mate close to her breast. "Isabelle," Sulpicia said, trailing her fingers lightly across her mate's hip.

"Mhm," the brunette responded, her nose pressed into the older vampire's neck.

"How are you feeling? So much has happened in the past few days, but we haven't discussed how you're actually feeling. I know that all of this is a lot." The queen remembered her own days after her change in a haze, shifting from one volatile state to another.

Isabelle paused, her thoughts swirling the question around in her mind, trying to analyze how she felt, how she really felt. "I asked Heidi earlier when we were shopping what her human life was like, and she told me she didn't remember and only knew what her sire told her," Isabelle said, looking her mate in the eyes. "It's nice to know that other vampires lose all of their memories during the change, so I'm not alone in that."

"It is actually pretty common for vampires to lose most of their memories during the change, they might only hold onto a few moments but they would be murky at best," Sulpicia agreed. "I remember my people, my culture, but I don't remember my family or friends. Vague faces, flashes, feelings, no names or specific memories though."

"I thought I would feel more, feel more about not remembering, but when you mentioned that word the other day," Isabelle murmured, her brow furrowing, "Something… It felt like something hollowed out within me and I just… blanked out, I didn't have any control."

"My older venom helps with that but it doesn't get rid of the dramatic mood swings completely, that's something that comes with age, and practice," the queen whispered, worried about what the younger girl meant when she said it felt like something hollowed within her.

The brunette hummed, "I know that, I know that newborns are volatile and almost uncontrollable. I don't know why I know that though."

"What else do you know?"

"I know that some vampires have… gifts? Extra abilities, and that the Volturi, us, are the vampire royalty of the world." The queen mulled over the girl's words. She knew that they confirmed that someone had told Isabelle about vampires, had told her quite a bit about vampires. She was broken out of her thoughts when Isabelle pushed her onto her back and climbed on top of her. "The most important thing though," the younger vampire purred, "is that I know that you are my mate. I feel it within me, I feel you in me, our connection. Everything else, who I was, what happened, it doesn't matter, who I am now is what is important. I am yours, and you, my queen, are definitely mine."

"I see that desire for sex has not dampened," Sulpicia growled, leaning up slightly to pull her mate down into her. Seeing the nearly black eyes of the brunette on top of her, the queen purred, "I'll take care of you precious."

"I find it so nice to be older than most of the organizations in the world," Athenodora sighed as the three queens glanced through the papers that the European Union representative left for them to look through.

"It does help to make sure that the balance of power stays in our favor," Sulpicia agreed, "Money also helps with that. So are we agreed with the terms presented to us?"

"I've read the case files on all of the inmates, and all of the cases appear solid, so there is a justifiable reason why they would be presented to us," Didyme said, setting the files aside. "Giving them to us does help the humans avoid the responsibility of killing them themselves or continuing to pay for them to sit in prison."

Athenodora smirked as she read the file of a serial child molester, her eyes filling with glee. "And technically it is a fair shot for these criminals as well. They get taken out of jail, dropped off in a forest, if they can make it out of the forest in one night, they get to live, just because no one has managed to make it before doesn't mean that it's not fair."

"Quite right sister, I mean they are giving the chance to say no," Didyme chuckled, sending her own smirk towards her blonde sister. "So there are… thirty or so files here, more than usual."

"Humans are being more disgusting than usual these days," Sulpicia pointed out. "I ask again, are we agreed to the EU's terms?"

"We dispose of their unwanted, provide them with some capital and we basically own them," Dora smirked again. "I don't see a down side, we do own all of Greece now since we provided the money for the bailout, I do love being charitable for the humans."

Didyme snorted, "I'll bet, I would like to propose one change. Rather than have all of the guard hunt at once, a rotation schedule would be better. We could stretch this out over a few years, having the inmates disappear once every month, every couple of months from different countries would hide our tracks."

"That would work better, it would make it seem like they just escaped and disappeared rather than they were abducted and killed in a forest somewhere," Sulpicia mused, jotting down the corrections. She shut the file and called for the guard outside her office to return the papers to the EU representative and tell him to get back to them when their changes have been approved.

"There's something else I need to talk to you two about," Sulpicia sighed as she turned back to her sisters. "Something else I heard in Isabelle's fragmented memories."

"If this is anything like the last thing you heard, I'm not sure I want to hear it," Dora muttered.

"Genesis Project."

At those two words, the other two queens sat up and looked at the third in shock. "How could she…" Didyme started, staring at Sulpicia and Athenodora with alarm coloring her features.

Dora stood up and slammed her hands down on the dark haired queen's desk, "She wasn't involved in that shit was she? _Faex_." The blonde queen hissed out, shifting into Latin out of anger. "We need to how Isabelle knew about that, if she was involved, she's still in danger."

"But how could she be involved?" Didyme countered, "We made sure every trace of that filth ended years ago."

"Not every trace apparently," Sulpicia muttered, her eyes dark and hard at the thought of her mate anywhere near _that_ project. A pounding on the door interrupted her thoughts and the queens' conversation.

"Mistresses," Heidi started, bursting into the room. "Forgive me for the interruption, but it's Isabelle..."

"What's wrong?" Sulpicia started immediately rushing out of the room with Heidi and her sisters right behind her.

"Isabelle is in the training room with Afton and Chelsea, they were teaching her how to spar when Jane walked in…"

Sulpicia didn't need to hear any more, knowing that little pint-sized piece of shit liked to cause trouble. She had heard rumors of her grumblings about her mate over the past week from the whispers of the lower guard. The three queens and their guard burst into the training room, staring at the scene in both shock and fear.

The newborn brunette stood in the center of the room, her eyes completely pitch black, not a trace of white or red showing within them. Her hair whipped around her head and the pressure increased in the room, making the air taste heavy in the mouths of the vampires present. Isabelle hissed and threw her hand out in front of her, her fingers curling slightly as her palm pressed on the air, pushing it into the blonde in front of her. Jane screamed out as a black cloud rushed at her, pressing her into the wall behind her with enough force to crack the stone.

She thrashed around against the wall, screaming and hissing out in protest as the cloud held her there. Isabelle growled again in displeasure and pushed out with her again, forcing the cloud to flood into Jane's mouth and nose, smothering the screams to whimpers and muffled gasps. The cloud fully entered Jane's body; the force holding her to the wall dissipating as she dropped to the ground with a thud. Her eyes were blackened out and her body twitched, small arcs of purple electricity appearing occasionally on her body. The newborn vampire was breathing heavily, still shaking with rage.

The vampires in the room stared at the girl in shock as they tried to make sense of what they had just seen. Sulpicia stepped forward slightly, freezing when obsidian eyes snapped towards her. She halted momentarily, seeing no emotions in the eyes staring right at her before she continued forward slowly. No one in the room made a sound as Sulpicia stood before the enraged newborn; the queen softly pulled the girl into her arms, stroking through the long brunette hair that has since stopped sweeping around in the air. The pressure in the room disappeared completely as Sulpicia held the younger vampire, feeling her shudder in her arms. The queen pulled back and looked at her mate, relief coursing through her when her gaze met with crimson eyes, dark eyes, but better than the pure black they were.

"What happened Isabelle?" Sulpicia asked, her voice low.

The brunette's nose crinkled a bit as she looked over her mate's shoulder, staring blankly at the wall. "I…" she started, "I don't know. Chelsea and Afton were teaching me how to spar; Heidi was here too in case we needed extra help. Then Jane came in and… I don't remember, I just felt something tilt and burst inside of me and then you were here."

Sulpicia glanced over to Afton, calling him over to her with her narrowed eyes. She briefly touched her guard's hand, watching his memory of Jane walking into the training room, verbally berating her mate, referring to her as a mistake and a passing fancy for _her mistress_. Sulpicia's eyes tightened as she took in a familiar expression on Jane's face, knowing that the unhinged vampire tried to use her gift on her mate. When it didn't work, she delved into a slew of increasingly biting insults, and Sulpicia watched the moment when Bella's eyes snapped to full black and a force seemed to push out from within her before crashing back into her. She released Afton's hand once she saw herself enter the room with Heidi and her sisters hot on her heels.

"Take that filth to the dungeons," Sulpicia growled, gesturing towards Jane's body. "I don't know what Isabelle did to her, or how long it will last, but I'll be damned if I let her come to anywhere other than in the dungeons for attempting to physically, mentally and emotionally injure my mate."

Heidi had filled Athenodora and Didyme in on what had happened while Sulpicia was immersed in Afton's memories. Both of them agreed with their sister's decision. "Chelsea, make sure you grab Alec too, wrap him with your gift so that he doesn't even think about doing anything stupid," Athenodora ordered. "I know you don't like using your gift, but this is important."

"Alec might do something stupid and go after Isabelle out of revenge for Jane," Didyme explained, seeing the hesitance on the young guard's face. "And we also need to know how Alec feels about this situation. Jane and Alec usually act as one, the fact that he isn't here is suspicious."

"I'll help her look for him," Heidi said, running with Chelsea out of the room, Afton following after them with Jane slung over his shoulder, her eyes still blacked out and her body twitching. The purple arcs of electricity still sparked along Jane's body but they didn't touch Afton as he carted the unresponsive vampire to the dungeons.

"Isabelle," Didyme said, drawing the girl's attention. "Are you okay?"

"What happened, what did I do to her, to Jane?" The younger vampire asked, fear present in her eyes.

Sulpicia looked hesitantly at her sisters before turning back to her mate, "We don't know, but we're going to find out. You are not responsible for what happened to Jane though, Jane should know better than to try to attack you, to try to use her gift on you, and she will be punished accordingly when she wakes up." Isabelle nodded her head, pressing her face into her mate's neck. Sulpicia looked down at her mate in concern when she felt her body getting heavier on hers as if all of her strength was slipping out of her. She bent over slightly and picked up the girl, tightening her arms around her.

"Can one of you get some blood bags from storage?" Sulpicia asked, looking at her sisters. "I don't want to take her out to hunt in her condition."

"I'll get them," Dora volunteered while Didyme went with Sulpicia and Isabelle back to their rooms. A few minutes later, Dora placed a few blood bags in front of the younger vampire. The three queens became concerned when the newborn simply looked at them. The newborn simply slumped into her mate, her entire body exhausted from the strain of whatever she did to Jane. It was an exhaustion that settled into her granite bones, one that she can't recall ever feeling before.

Sulpicia opened the blood bags and poured them into Isabelle's mouth, making sure that she drank all of the blood. Once she had finished all of the bags, she slumped back on the bed unconscious. "Okay, what the fuck, is she asleep?" Dora asked, running a hand through her hair, tugging light on the roots.

"I think she's just unconscious," Sulpicia murmured, brushing her fingers along her mate's face. "She is exhausted, I can feel it through our bond. I've never felt that level of tiredness in a vampire before."

"You saw what she did to Jane, that didn't look simple or easy. Whatever Isabelle did left her unresponsive; that takes a massive amount of power. She is still just a newborn, no wonder it exhausted her."

"We need to find out what that was," Athenodora said, "We should call Eleazar here and have him look at her."

"No," Sulpicia replied, snapping her head towards her blonde sister. "Until we know who told her about vampires, no one is coming here, not until we know more information."

"I know sister," Didyme soothed, sitting down on the edge of her sister's bed. "But we need to get information, and one way to do that is find out about Isabelle's gift, if this is a gift. The only one who can do that is Eleazar."

Sulpicia's mind ran through Didyme's words, acknowledging the truth in them. "No," she stated finally. At seeing her sisters about to protest, she waved them off. "No, I won't risk Isabelle by inviting Eleazar here. Even though her papers might have been faked, her voice accent sounded like either North America, either the United States or Cananda. All vampires living in that region are suspects."

Athenodora fought back the urged to roll her eyes, knowing that she would rip apart mountains if it were her mate in danger. "So what do we do?"

"We can ask Siobhan and her coven here," the dark queen said. "Siobhan and Liam might be able to provide us with information that we seek, and maybe Isabelle could find a friend in Maggie. At the very least, Maggie is known as the neutral party of the vampire world with her gift. If we ask them for help with her present, they'll be more inclined to believe our sincerity."

"I'll have Marcus make the call," Didyme spoke. "They always liked him the best out of all of us, though they do respect us."

Dora chuckled, "He is a bard and they are Irish, they probably sense the blarney in him."

"Shut up Dora." Didyme rolled her eyes and pushed her out of the room. "We'll leave you alone sister, and make the necessary arrangements. You stay with Isabelle, we'll take care of this."

Sulpicia nodded her head gratefully, feeling partially guilty that she was burdening them with troubles, things that she should be taking care of herself as Isabelle's mate. "Don't even think about feeling guilty," Athenodora said, interpreting the look on the dark queen's face. "Things were getting boring around here anyway." The two disappeared out of her door, back to their own mates and to make arrangements for the Irish coven's visit.

The queen turned back to her mate and watched her for a while, stripping them both out of their clothes before lying back down on the bed. "What am I going to do with you?" She murmured, pulling the girl into her arms. "What am I going to do?"

* * *

 **Reviews keep me happy**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I'm really trying to keep up with this schedule, really trying. It's easier when interesting things are happening, so I'm trying to keep the heart-to-heart talks to a minimum because they tend to bog things down. It is so much more fun when i'm writing about shifty characters, or people dying... That keeps things interesting. Anyway, I knew what I was going to do with the wolves when I started this story, and the Volturi and other things, I already knew what was going to happen, but I finally figured out a way to tie them together, so I'm having to go through my notes and mark the appropriate spots to tie everything up and together.

Dig the reactions I'm getting for the story, I really do. They are really amusing. There are cute moments, mostly to balance things out, but for the most part, everything is supposed to be really intense and dangerous.

The Irish coven shows up in this chapter, but I have to warn you, I tried to write the Irish accent, but I'm afraid the Irish and the scottish accents got mixed up in my head. Maybe even the English, they don't sound alike, but I usually watch TV shows with all three in them so it gets a bit confusing when replaying how it sounds in my head.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: March 26th, 2016**

 **Chapter 6**

Quil loped through the forest, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he ran the part of the boundary line he was responsible for. Collin was his patrol partner for the day since Sam issued an order that Brady and Collin weren't allowed to patrol together any more, not until they knew what had prompted them to attack each other. The chocolate brown wolf paused his run to stratch behind his ears and sniff at the ground. The red-haired leech hadn't been seen in a few days, her scent briefly crossing the boundary line and all over Forks as if she was looking for something. Sam believed that she was poking around for Bella, and that she would leave when she found out that the leech-lover was no longer in the area.

The elders were torn by that statement, wanting to keep vampires away from their people but also wanting to find Bella and have her face tribal and pack justice for damaging the imprint. It was a slap in the face of the spirits for the girl to break the imprint, throwing back their gift of a wolf as a mate, spitting on it as it landed at their feet. Quil shook his large head at the thought of the state his pack mate was in, remembering the look on Paul's face after he phased back into his human form for the first time after feeling the imprint break. His face was blank, as if something had broken within him. He disappeared for hours on end, the pack believing that his wolf was searching aimlessly for his missing imprint and thus left him alone to his searching.

A twig snapped behind Quil and he whirled around to the sound, noticing the reddish brown wolf emerging through the trees. _"Collin, dude,"_ Quil stuttered, _"You nearly scared the shit out of me, why are you here? You're supposed to be patrolling the southern half of the border."_

The other wolf didn't reply, just continued to stalk forwards, his body low to the ground as rumbling growls grew louder. His teeth were bared and his golden eyes focused on the chocolate brown wolf in front of him. _"Collin?"_ Quil questioned again, taking a step back. That movement spurred on the reddish wolf and he lunged. Quil let out a startled yelp and fell backwards trying to get away from the attacking wolf, but he was too slow. Collin latched onto his right foreleg, his sharp teeth nearly biting clean through to the bone.

Quil yelped out in pain and started to try and shake the younger wolf off of him. A red haze tinted his mind, and thoughts started entering his head, whispers urging him to bite down on the other wolf's neck. He would be able to dislodge him from his leg if he just reached out and grabbed him, shaking him around viciously.

The thoughts grew louder and Quil disappeared within himself.

Several hours later, Jared phased into to relieve Quil from patrol when he heard the younger wolf freaking out. Fearing the worst, the brown wolf took off in the direction of his pack brother. Coming upon the scene, Jared stumbled in shock. Quil was in wolf form, whimpering quietly curled into a ball with his paws covering his eyes and muzzle. The naked body of Collin Littlesea was laying just a short distance away from him, his throat ripped out and glassy eyes staring up towards the sky.

 _"Quil, Quil what happened?"_ Jared called, trying to draw the chocolate wolf's attention.

Quil stopped whimpering, and slowly removed his paws from his face. Jared's heart dropped when he spotted the blood coating the other wolf's nose and teeth. _"I don't know,"_ Quil snuffled out hesitantly. _"I don't know."_

"The Irish coven has agreed to grace us with their presence in a few days," Didyme told her sisters as the three of them were seated in one of the main conference rooms. They had just finalized the agreement with the European Union to relieve the countries of their more dangerous criminals serving lengthy sentences. Two would disappear from prisons in different countries every few months and the Volturi would use them in their games to amuse themselves and their guards.

Sulpicia sighed as she leaned back in her seat, "Well that's one less thing that I have to worry about."

"And that little bitch Jane woke up yesterday." Athenodora sniffed, propping her feet up on the table. "She seems twitchier than normal though, quiet. Seems the vindictive little bitch got a taste of her own medicine for once."

"Dora," Didyme chided, trying to sound scolding but choking back a smile.

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better," the dark haired queen bit out, silencing her sisters. "Isabelle is still horrified about what happened, and is reluctant to leave our rooms."

"Truthfully we're surprised you're not with her in your rooms," Didyme said. "We know the state that she was in when this all happened days ago and we didn't expect to see either of you for a while."

A pout formed on Sulpicia's face as she looked at her sisters, "Isabelle told me to go, and that she'd be fine with just Heidi to keep her company for the day if I had work to do." She sat back in her seat and folded her arms, looking very petulant.

"If it makes you feel any better, Caius is enjoying what Isabelle did to Jane," Athenodora told her sister. "He is using this as an opportunity to train both Alec and Jane to stop relying on their gifts, since Jane was the most trouble in doing this before and she is feeling quite amenable right now."

"Still doesn't make me feel better, just shut-up Dora," Sulpicia groused.

"We do have something to talk about though," Didyme said, drawing the other queens' attention.

Athenodora nodded, knowing where Didyme was heading. "Right, Isabelle brings another problem and mystery to solve, how the fuck did she know about Genesis Project? I thought that shit fest died with Aro."

"Part of me is wondering if it's just a coincidence and someone has named a project with that same name, but I don't particularly believe in coincidence," Sulpicia said, leaning forward to set her elbows on the table. Propping her head up on her hands, the queen studied the wood grain thoughtfully, "It must've been the vampires that told her, it couldn't have been anyone else."

"But we need to find out who with that," Dora grumbled, "And how far they had gotten and Isabelle's knowledge. You don't think she was a participant in that shit do you?"

"Most likely she was a victim," Sulpicia mused. "Have either of you gone through the rest of her things?"

"I stopped when I found her identification documents," Dora answered. "Seemed rude to keep poking around."

The dark queen nodded her head, "It is rude, I'll look through them with her. There's no way to bring her memory back, but it might help shed some light on who she was and answer some of the questions that she has."

"Going through her things that she had with her as a human might lead to more questions," Didyme cautioned. "Are you prepared for the consequences of what this might do to Isabelle? Of where these questions might lead? It could prove damaging to her."

"She's already damaged Dy," Sulpicia replied softly, looking sadly at her sisters. "All of this is hurting her inside, even though she claims it's not. Not knowing who she was, what happened to her, and now with what she did to Jane on top of it… I know she's hurting, I feel she's hurting, and it irritates me that I can't do a damn thing about it." The queen growled and stood up, moving away from the table. "I'm a warrior, a warrior queen and I can't fight my mate's troubles and demons for her, but I can get her answers, and anyone who gets in my way will feel my wrath."

"We'll get answers Cia, don't worry, nothing can hide from us forever," Athenodora said, patting her older sister on the arm.

Sulpicia nodded, releasing a shuddering sigh, "It's been nearly two weeks since she came here, and I already love her so much. I would rip apart the entire and light it on fire if she asked it of me. I've waited so long for her and to find out that her human life was so fucked up that it affects her this much as a vampire, puts her in danger… I didn't live this long to let someone hurt my mate, even ghosts in her past."

"We're with you sister," Didyme said, "I killed my own brother for daring to fuck with you, what do you think I would do to those who dared to endanger your mate?"

"Thank you sisters," Sulpicia said, standing up. "I have an appointment with Chelsea and Afton, until later dears."

"Come on Isabelle, you can't continue to feel guilty over what happened to Jane," Heidi said, trying to rouse the other brunette from her hiding place under the covers on the bed.

"Yes I can," the lump muttered, reaching out blindly with a hand to grab a bag of blood sitting on the bedside table before retreating under the black sheets.

Heidi sighed and pulled the sheet down on the bed, revealing the newborn vampire downing another bag of blood. "Isabelle," the mahogany haired vampire sighed, "you're acting like a teenage human, stop moping and get out."

Isabelle glared at the other vampire, "I can't help it. My emotions are all over the place, I can't decide if I should be feeling vindictive glee, guilt or satisfaction. One minute I'm super happy, the next I'm depressed and wanting to smash things. I don't want to deal with it, so under here is where I will stay." The brunette made to grab the sheet again but Heidi held it out of her reach.

"Nope, none of that. You don't have to leave the room, but you do have to talk to me, meaning sitting in such a way where I can see you," Heidi said, nudging the girl over on the bed before sitting down next to her and crossing her legs.

"Sometimes I regret asking you to treat me like normal vampire instead of as Sulpicia's mate," Isabelle grumbled when the other vampire urged her out of her curled up position to lean against the headboard.

Heidi bumped her shoulder, against Isabelle, trying to get the younger vampire to smile. "Come on Bell," she tried again, using the nickname she had given the girl, "I know that the most of these negative feelings stem from what happened with Jane the other day. You didn't feel this bad about losing your memories before then."

"I didn't know I was so fucked up before then," Isabelle muttered, turning her head into Heidi's shoulder and cuddling into her side. One part that was annoying as well as comforting about being a newborn vampire was her incessant need for physical contact. Usually she sought comfort from Sulpicia as her mate, but her instincts had claimed Heidi as an older sister so she served as a good cuddle partner as well. Chelsea and Afton were her best friends and helped her out with training and teaching her how to manage her new abilities, but contact with them wasn't craved like it is with Sulpicia and, to a lesser extent, Heidi. "I mean, I was content just not knowing anything about who I was, not remembering who I was, that stuff didn't matter since I'm a different person now."

"But…?"

Isabelle sighed, "But random things set me off, words, feelings, I can't control it, a red haze descends on my mind and I just snap. And then what I did to Jane, I basically put her in a vegetative state!"

The mahogany haired vampire waved her hand dismissively, "The little twerp is fine, and she probably respects you a little more now too. The rest of us are super thankful for what you did since she hasn't been acting like her vindictive little bitch self and zapping everyone with her power. It's been most refreshing, don't be so hard on yourself."

"That's what I mean," the brunette said, "What I did affected her so much that she changed personalities completely? How is that a good thing?"

"You know, for someone who doesn't remember your human life, you sure are acting like one," Heidi commented, rolling her eyes. When Isabelle moved to shift away, the older vampire grabbed onto her. "No no, don't run away, listen. We are vampires, and as vampires, we are more feral, more ruthless. Outside of our mates and whoever we form bonds with we are territorial, vicious and brutal on occasion. Sometimes even coven members destroy each other given the correct motivation, which is not as uncommon in larger covens like this one. Typically vampires travel in mated pairs, or in small groups no larger than three, too many vampires living together can cause emotions and tempers to flare. What happened between you and Jane was normal, and not totally unexpected since Jane is a bitch, the stronger vampire came out as the victor."

"I have to agree with Heidi," Sulpicia said as she walked through the door. "Jane has gotten out of line recently and is being much more docile now." Isabelle sprang from the bed and jumped on the older vampire, wrapping her arms and legs around the queen. Heidi left the room silently when the queen came in, leaving the despondent brunette in her care. Sulpicia sat down on the bed, and held the younger vampire close to her, trying to give her as much comfort as she could.

"Isabelle," the dark queen started, feeling her mate press her face into her neck, "Isabelle, I don't want you to ever feel bad about defending yourself, about using your… your gift. It's not something to be ashamed over, it's something that belongs to you, something that is your own. That's why I'm having my best guards teach you how to fight, with and without your gift."

"So it is a gift then," Isabelle murmured, "I thought all of you said that I was a shield, and vampires that are gifted only have one gift."

Sulpicia nodded, running her hand soothingly up and down her mate's spine. "That is true, and I spoke with Afton and Chelsea about this and I have developed a working theory. You are a shield, it's something that you carried with you with your human identity. So far is has only manifested as a mental shield, blocking gifts that work on the mind, it might grow into a physical shield but that will take time. This other gift, this new gift, it is completely different from your shield, that it can't be an aspect of it."

"Then why do I have it?"

"It's possible that this could have been another result of what happened when your soul was imprisoned the way it was. When it was released, it wiped out your memories, but it could have also changed slightly so that you are a different person than who you were, meaning a chance for a different gift."

Isabelle pulled back slightly, her brow furrowing, "You mean that even if I did have memories of my human life, I'm a different than who I was?"

"Everyone is different from who they once were, humans and vampires alike, each time we go through something traumatic or significant we change," Sulpicia amended, "In your case though, the significant trauma affected you enough to alter your very soul."

The younger vampire let the words settle into her mind and she moved off of the queen, folding her hands on her lap and staring down at them. "Does… does that mean that if whatever happened to me hadn't happened, we wouldn't be mates, we wouldn't have become mates?"

Sulpicia thought for a moment, "That might have happened, that very well could have happened." She saw her mate visibly deflate at her words, so she reached up and grabbed Isabelle's chin, turning her head to face her. "But that's not what happened, and that is the important part Isabelle," Sulpicia continued, her burgundy colored eyes staring into the crimson eyes of her mate. "We will live for an eternity, and wondering what might've happened will drive us crazy if we dwell on them. Focus on what is, and what is, is that you are my mate, and I am yours." The queen brushed her fingertips along the bite mark on Isabelle's shoulder, smirking when the younger vampire shivered.

Isabelle whined, a deep needy sound and crawled into Sulpicia's lap, trying to melt into the older vampire. The queen's nostrils flared when she smelled her mate's scent, a growl building in her chest. "I can take care of that for you precious," she murmured, flipping them around so that Isabelle was beneath her, her back pressed into the bed and her hands clawing at the older vampire. She was trying to get the older vampire closer to her, the need clear in her nearly black eyes.

In a matter of seconds, Sulpicia had stripped the both of them and wedged herself over her mate, straddling one of Isabelle's legs. "I'll take good care of you precious," the queen murmured again as her hands and mouth, her entire body began a dance it had learned very well in the short time she had been with her mate.

Several hours later, Sulpicia lay back on the bed with a very sated newborn humming happily on top of her. She smirked at the contented feeling she felt coming from the young vampire, pride coursing through her being at the thought of so pleasing her mate. "I can feel you being smug," Isabelle murmured, her lips brushing the side of Sulpicia's breast. The queen shuddered and she pulled the brunette up, taking her lips in a tender kiss.

"Do I not have a reason to be smug?" Sulpicia asked once she released Isabelle, smirking at the dazed look on the girl's face.

The brunette blinked and glared at her mate, "Based on that reasoning, I'm allowed to be smug as well."

"And you should feel very smug," the queen said, planting kisses all over the younger vampire's face. Isabelle giggled and moved her face away, burrowing back into Sulpicia's chest. "You're unlike anyone else, so much better than everyone else," she murmured, trailing her fingers up and down Isabelle's back, "so much better." The brunette hummed and purred, pressing herself further into the queen.

They lay there for a while longer before Sulpicia recalled that she wanted to look through Isabelle's things with her. "Darling," she murmured, reluctantly rousing her mate out of her contented state. "We have to get up."

"I don't want to move," Isabelle's voice was still muffled by Sulpicia's breast. "And luckily as a vampire, I don't have to move."

"You don't have to leave the bed, we don't even have to get dressed, but we do have to at least sit up," the queen said, indulging her mate. Part of her wondered why she was so overindulgent with her mate, as she has never been known as a patient, loving person in her entire existence. She has never had a mate before though.

Sulpicia pulled Isabelle into a sitting position and ran into her sitting room, grabbing the bags her mate had brought with her before returning to the bedroom. Isabelle stared at the bags in confusion as Sulpicia sat them on the bed in front of her before retaking her seat. "What are those?" She asked, opening one carefully.

"These are the bags that you brought with you when you came here," the queen replied. "Athenodora looked through them and found your identification papers, but hasn't poked through them much beyond that."

"Identification papers?" The dark queen reached over to her beside table and pulled Isabelle's passport and birth certificate out of the drawer, handing them to her mate. "Canadian," Isabelle murmured, looking at the passport.

"The papers are very thorough, almost to thorough," Sulpicia said, drawing her mate's attention. "My sisters and I believe them to be forgeries."

"So Isabelle might not be my real name?"

"It's your name now, whatever it might have been before, Isabelle is who you are now," Sulpicia asserted, grasping the brunette's hand. Isabelle stored the information away in her mind, deciding to think over it at a later date as she moved her attention to the bags. She poked through the duffle bag, not seeing anything of interest, just random items and clothes that held no interest to her.

Her exploration of the backpack also met with no interest until she pulled a notebook out of the back. Sulpicia watched as her mate flipped through the notebook, concern growing within her as she felt alarming amounts of fear and rage coming from her mate as she flipped through the pages. "Isabelle," she said, touching the younger vampire lightly on the shoulder. She ripped her hand back when the girl flinched away, her wild, black eyes whirling around in alarm. "What's wrong?" Sulpicia asked, careful not to touch her still frightened mate.

Isabelle blinked her eyes slightly, shaking her head to bring herself out of the trance of anger she fell into. "I-" she started, looking to her mate, "This notebook, it isn't mine, but something about it… I'm afraid, I don't know why, I'm angry and I don't know why, other than of course the actual information in that book, it's horrendous."

The queen took the book out of Isabelle's hand and flipped through, scanning the contents. A dark look grew on her face as she read what was in the notebook, rage coloring her features when she reached the last entry. She closed the book with finality in her movements as she stared at the sheet covering her lap, lost in her thoughts.

"Cia?" Isabelle called, carefully studying the emotions as they crossed her mate's face.

"Does Genesis Project mean anything to you Isabelle?" Sulpicia asked quietly, fingering the notebook.

The brunette felt a spike of rage and fear at the words, but quickly shook it away, unlike the emotions that came with im-, _that_ word. "No, what is it?"

Sulpicia turned to look at her mate, her beautiful, damaged mate. "Nothing you need to worry about right now precious, I need to talk to my sisters about my suspicions, but I will tell you about it as soon as I can."

"Promise?" Isabelle demanded, her eyes searching her mate's face. "Sulpicia, the things in that book, I didn't understand them completely but they frighten me, the implications frighten me."

"I'll let you know as soon as I know, as soon as I have something to tell you for sure, I will talk with you and we will figure things out from there," the queen soothed, brushing her mate's hair back from her face. "Now did you remember anything else?" Isabelle shook her head and Sulpicia smiled sadly at her mate, "That's okay, I was hoping something would come back, for your sake, but it might be a blessing if you never remember what your life was like." The brunette nodded sadly again, knowing that it was probably better that she didn't remember.

The dark-haired queen sensed the emotions coming from the brunette, and shoved the bags off of their bed, pulling her mate down and back into her arms. "Skin to skin contact is good for newborns, lots of comfort and cuddle time," she said as she wrapped her smaller mate in her arms.

"Newborn vampires or newborn humans?"

Sulpicia chuckled, "Well, you're almost the same, ruled by instincts, except instead of sleep, you desire more pleasurable activities."

"When I'm around you, it seems to be all I desire."

"Then let's see about satisfying some more of those desires."

"Candidate 236 has disappeared out of Forks," Esme stated, an annoyed look on her face as she sat down on Carlisle's desk. The blond man was reading one of his medical journals and glanced up briefly when his wife came in with a scowl on her face.

Setting his book down, Carlisle turned his attention to his mate, "And that annoys you why my love?"

"We are unable to continue studying her if she has disappeared, I was looking forward to analyzing the long term effects of vampire thrall and the intense abrupt removal," Esme pouted, trailing her fingers along the wooden surface of the desk. "And although I didn't like her, she was an excellent candidate for the Genius Project, even if she didn't fit with the part that we wanted."

"She did technically fit in the part we wanted," the doctor pointed out, "She fit too well, which is why you got those nomads to go after her."

"I admit that was not one of my finest moments," Esme sighed. "Edward was just too enamored with her though, he was forgetting about everything else."

"That's what happens when you meet your mate my love."

"Oh you know very well that 236 wasn't his mate, just his singer," the caramel haired woman scoffed, crossing her legs. "He was enraptured by her blood."

"He was doing well resisting the impulse to drain her, I was quite proud of him, still proud."

"He would've drained her eventually, which is why I got those nomads to go after her, how was I supposed to know that Edward would fight to save her?"

Carlisle sighed, "Esme love, you're getting side tracked. You came in here talking about how she disappeared."

"Oh, right, well I maintained contact with one of those blathering idiot nurses at the hospital, layer in just the right amount of thrall and these vapid human women are willing to do almost anything," she smirked. "She kept me informed on what was going on with 236, right up until she disappeared about a month ago."

"So you were keeping track of her."

"I told you I was collecting data and that she was the perfect candidate for the Genesis Project. We could've returned in a few years to retrieve her when she was most potent, but unfortunately that option is not possible now."

Carlisle sat back in his seat and thought for a moment, "We can always ask Jasper to track her down, though that might be a little harder to hide from his meddlesome wife."

"I told you getting that involved with candidates would come back to bite us," Esme groused. "I can't believe Alice befriended 236, that also mucked up the whole situation." The caramel haired woman seethed, her fingers digging into the wood of the desk.

The doctor stood up and placed his hands on his mate's waist, soothing her. "Worry not, my love, we will find 236 and take her to them as a candidate for the Genesis Project, even if we have to remove her out of the Clause 1 section of the project."

"At least we don't have to constantly look at another failure," Esme crossed her eyes, still scowling.

Carlisle chuckled, "Yes, there is that. At any rate, perhaps we can suggest Jasper take Alice for a vacation, and he commences searching for 236. I would make inquiries with some of my associates, but I don't want to tip them onto what we're doing."

"And Jasper better find her," Esme growled, her golden eyes darkening, "Or he's going to find out why female vampires are not to be trifled with."

* * *

 **A/N:** Not every chapter will be violent and messy with dead things though next chapter I do... anyway, since I now know how things connect, I have to write a backstory chapter in the future, two of them, not one like I thought, but two, this should be fun. I haven't forgotten Victoria as well. Victoria was Heidi's coven mate, so I am a little torn about what to do with her. James was her mate in this story, and vamps go cray cray without their mates. I feel like I know what I'm going to do with her, but any suggestions? You guys can't just say, don't kill her! Legitimate suggestions please, something plausible.

 **Review please**


	7. Chapter 7

**Review please!**

 **Posted: March 26th, 2016**

 **Chapter 7**

"Sam, what is going on?" Emily asked, fear in her voice. "Quil _killed_ Collin, he practically ripped him apart. That isn't something that Quil would do."

"I don't know my love," Sam said, rubbing his face. "A lot of strange things have been happening lately; it seemed to all start with Paul imprinting on Bella Swan, everything got out of control after that. Paul's basically checked out and then the others in the pack have started behaving strangely. Collin and Brady attacked each other, then Quil killed Collin, and now even Embry has started to behave erratically as well."

"This isn't Isabella Swan's fault and you know it," Emily spat out, her eyes angry, "She was just a foolish girl that got involved with something that was too much for her. No this isn't her fault. The pack started acting strangely after you allowed Paul to murder my cousin."

Sam rolled his eyes, having gone through this argument before, "I keep telling you Emily, that wasn't murder, that was pack business. Leah interfered with an imprint, and had to face pack justice. You didn't even like Leah, I don't know why you continue to make a big deal out of this."

"I despised Leah, stuck up grumpy bitch, always trying to be better than me. But even though I hated her, she was still family, my cousin, and I loved her in my own way," Emily replied, crossing her arms, "And you allowed Paul to kill her, hell, you helped him, and you covered it up! Didn't even tell Aunt Sue that her daughter is dead. You blame Bella for everything happening to the pack, but really you should probably take a good hard look at yourselves."

Trying to control his temper, Sam gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "What happened with Leah has nothing to do with what is going on now. This is obviously something to do with Bella breaking the imprint. Perhaps the backlash from the imprint breaking for one of our pack brothers is causing our wolves to behave in erratic ways, attacking each other." He stood up from his seat at his dining room table and headed for the door. "I'm going to see if the elders have found anything in the old journals about what is going on."

"What did they tell his parents?" Emily asked quietly just before Sam left the house, stopping him in his tracks. "What did they tell Collin's parents?"

Turning his head sideways to look at her out of the corner of his eye, Sam bit out a reply, "Hunting accident, mauled by a bear." Sam didn't have to hear her scoff as he walked away to know that she didn't approve of what had been covered up. It wasn't Quil's fault that Collin had died, and the truth of what happened wasn't going to do anyone any good.

The alpha made his way to the tribal council hall, all the while Emily's words about Leah, about what the pack did, ate at him. He reached the hall and entered, finding only Chief Black and Old Quil shifting through the old records. "Chief, Old Quil, have you found anything yet?" Sam asked, pulling up a chair to the table. The older men looked up briefly from their files to acknowledge the alpha's presence before returning to their work, Old Quil particularly attentive in his searching.

"We haven't found anything yet but unfortunately we acknowledge that these records aren't complete, or comprehensive on everything," Billy admitted, rubbing his face tiredly.

Guilt continued to eat away at Sam before he finally blurted out, "Paul killed Leah." The two men stopped looking through their papers to look up at Sam and he continued. "Paul killed Leah, she helped Bella run away from him, from the imprint and he killed her following the pack laws and justice code."

Billy glanced at Old Quil briefly before looking back at the alpha wolf. "We know son, but we decided it was better to keep it from her mother, that woman can wail like a demon, so we don't need that."

Sam's eyes grew at Billy's words, "You knew, all this time that Leah was dead?"

"Yes, and we were saddened at the death of the she-wolf, but we knew that she had to have done something drastic to bring pack justice down on her," Old Quil commented, returning to his papers. "That doesn't have anything to do with the problem at hand though."

"Are you positive?" Sam asked, wanting confirmation to ease his guilt.

"We're positive. No the problem lies with the broken imprint," Billy said, focusing on Sam once more. "We believe that the other wolves are feeling a backlash of sorts from it, though at first we weren't sure. Originally we thought it was some type of bacteria affecting them, passed from Brady to Collin to Quil, but with Embry now acting strangely as well, we know that it has to be the imprint."

Sam sat back in his seat, feeling better that his suspicions were confirmed and Emily's words were forgotten. "Has there ever been an imprint that was broken?" The alpha asked, reaching for some of the papers, "It was our understanding that it was impossible to do."

"It was also supposed to be rare, but we're finding out that it's not," Billy sighed. "Truthfully Sam, we have no idea how imprinting works. There aren't enough records written about it to know for sure how it behaves. What we told the pack was the little information left to us, but we are searching for more. It is difficult to break the bond of an imprint, but not impossible, there are few things in life that are impossible."

"Fantastic," Sam groaned, "so basically, Paul has checked out and the other wolves are attacking each other, killing each other, and there isn't anything we can do?"

"We are trying to find something Sam, though it would be easier if we knew what Bella did to break the imprint, and how Paul is doing," Old Quil sighed, "You said that Paul 'basically checked out,' what do you mean?"

"He's been really distant. He comes to meetings and patrol but other than that, he is really difficult to find."

"Try to keep a closer eye on him during patrol then," Billy suggested, "Let us know of anything you see in his memories or notice about his behavior and we'll go from there."

Sam nodded and stood to leave the council hall, "I should go and check up on Quil and the other wolves, make sure that they're okay and not attacking each other. With Paul gone all the time now, only Jared, Jake and I haven't been affected by this sickness."

"Be careful then Sam, it might only be a matter of time before the rest of you are influenced as well," Old Quil warned as the alpha wolf walked out of the door. The two waited until they were sure that Sam was out of hearing range before Old Quil turned towards Billy. "What are we going to do with that journal from the Third Wife?"

"It's in such terrible condition, we might not need to do anything."

"Yes, but it might hold the key to what is going on with the wolves. We stopped translating it years ago in fear of what it held as it threatened the validity of all of our legends, our history, but we might need to finish translating it."

Billy sighed and scrubbed at his face, "I don't want to finish translating it, but you're right, it might hold the answers. I worry about what truths it'll reveal though, about the origins of the pack, about imprinting. It is one of the earliest records of pack history that we have, there is no question about the validity of the information written in that journal."

"We have to finish translating it Billy," Old Quil stated firmly, "I'm not going to wait until my grandson is dead to look for answers."

The chief sighed and rolled back away from the table towards a locked safe in the corner of the council room. He turned the dial, opening the lock and reached in to grab the old, leather bound book. Wheeling back to the table, Billy set the book down in front of Old Quil, sighing as he did. "We're going to regret this in the end," Billy muttered, slumping in his seat.

"We will, but we'll regret not doing anything more," Old Quil replied before opening the book, one that could provide the answers they seek, but could also damn their entire history.

"Siobhan, Liam, Maggie, thank you for coming so quickly," Didyme greeted the three members of the Irish coven as they walked into the throne room.

Siobhan smiled as she walked forward, her mate and adopted daughter following close behind her. "In all honesty my queens," she started, bowing slightly, "we were a little hesitant te come but curiosity about your request urged us her. And ne'er let it be said that the Irish are rude enough te refuse a polite request to visit when asked for help."

"You're Irish heritage does you proud," Sulpicia chuckled, mirroring her sister as she moved from her throne to greet the three.

"So how can we help ye?" Siobhan asked, pushing her dark, black hair over her shoulder.

Sulpicia looked at Didyme for a moment before glancing back to the Irish Coven. "A few weeks ago, close to a month, a human walked into the throne room," the dark queen started, "a human that knew about us, about vampires. She came here seeking death."

The three members of the Irish coven gasped, shocked at the queen's words. "W'at happened te her?" Maggie asked, knowing that the Volturi queen was speaking the truth.

"There were some extenuating circumstances so she was changed rather than killed," Didyme replied. "When she awoke, it turned out that she was Sulpicia's mate."

"Yer mate?" Siobhan repeated, surprise in her tone. "Congra'ulations are in order then, but that still don't explain why we were called here."

The dark queen sighed, "Isabelle, my mate, there were complications in regards to her turning, dealing with the extenuating circumstances. When she came, her soul was bound tightly in chains, limiting her freewill. It was amazing she was still alive. The change freed her soul, but she was still damaged from her time in captivity, losing all of her memories. She has started to manifest a gift and it frightens her, we're, I'm afraid there might be more damage than just losing her memories."

"What could do tha' te her?" Maggie asked, her eyes growing darker. The two older members of the Irish coven looked appalled, but also contemplative of what they were told.

"We have theories, we're still working on that," Didyme interjected. "We asked you here to help Isabelle. Siobhan, with your gift of seeing the outcome of events and being able to project that into reality, you might be able to provide answers that she seeks, and Liam… I know you don't consider it a gift, but you can see auras, souls…"

"I can help assess wha' kind of damage has been done te her soul," Liam finished, understanding where the queen was going. He didn't consider what he could do a gift, since it was more instinctual than extra sensory as most gifts were.

Siobhan and Liam glanced at Maggie who nodded her head, indicating that the Volturi queens were telling the truth about why they were called to Volterra. "We will stay," Siobhan said finally, "We will help your mate, this Isabelle. Imprisoning a soul is terrible, we ma' be vampires, but we are not such monsters. Do you know who told her abou' vampires?"

Sulpicia shot a look at Didyme before turning her attention back to the Irish coven, "That is something my sisters and I will have to discuss. Would you like to meet Isabelle now?"

"I would," Maggie chimed in, looking from her adoptive mother to the vampire queen.

Didyme stepped forward and started to guide the three out of the throne room, "Isabelle is in the music room with my husband. He's teaching her how to play the lute, I'm afraid she has poor Marcus twisted around her fingers."

The Irish coven snickered while Sulpicia rolled her eyes at the mention of her mate and Marcus's doting on her. "Dy, I'm going to gather Dora if you want to take our guests to the music room, and then we'll meet you again in my office," Sulpicia said, drawing Didyme's attention.

"Right, I'll be along in a few minutes," the brunette queen replied as she exited out a side door with the Irish coven.

Sulpicia exited through the door hidden behind the thrones and made her way towards Athenodora and Caius's rooms. She could hear them before she even got to the door, which was amazing as all of their rooms were soundproof. "Dora!" The dark queen yelled as she banged on the door.

"Go away Cia!" Dora's muffled voice came through the door, shouting to overcome the soundproofing.

"I know fighting, wrestling is a type of foreplay for you two, but we have guests and we need to have a discussion," Sulpicia yelled back, punctuating each syllable with a bang on the door.

A growl sounded from behind the door and the dark queen only had to wait a few moments before her blonde haired sister wrenched the door open and stormed out, glaring at her. "I'm here, happy? I would say I was coming but I don't think that's appropriate as I'm not," Athenodora grumbled as she followed her older sister to the woman's office.

"You're too funny sometimes dear sister, sometimes too funny for your own good," Sulpicia quipped.

"People just aren't advanced enough for my humor."

Sulpicia resisted the urge to scoff as she opened her office door and walked into the room. "Why are we contemplating Dora's sense of humor?" Didyme asked, walking into the room behind her sisters.

"Our darling big sister doesn't appreciate my humor, when she was the one interrupting mine and Caius's private time," the blonde replied, flopping down on one of the couches.

The older vampire did roll her eyes at that behavior, "Such dignified behavior for a queen."

Athenodora stuck her tongue out at her sister, "You should've seen what I was doing with Caius, and then you could talk to me about dignified behavior."

"Before you two start seriously bickering, how about we discuss why we're really here?" Didyme suggested before looking at her elder sister, "Has it been confirmed?"

Sulpicia pulled the journal out of one of her desk drawers along with a few older documents written on parchment. "It has been confirmed, some of the writing in this notebook was written in Carlisle Cullen's handwriting. The analysis revealed that the rest of the writing was written by a woman, presumably Carlisle's mate."

"Well, at least this answers two questions then," Dora growled, "Who told Isabelle about vampires, and who would start up the Genesis Project. Carlisle was here when Aro was still around, and he was still a young vampire then so no doubt that Aro put those ideas in his head."

"We didn't realize the sway my brother had on him because Carlisle left years before everything with Aro came to head," Didyme sighed. "Fortunately it doesn't seem like he got very far with the project, was only completing one of the clauses, trying to find a mate for one of his changelings, his eldest I believe."

"Kinda pathetic isn't it?" Athenodora snickered, "Needing your mummy and daddy to find you a mate? I wonder if this Edward knows what they're doing?"

"If he does or doesn't, it's still pathetic and he is culpable for telling Isabelle about vampires, so one way or another, he still broke the law," Sulpicia hissed out. "They all broke the law, so they must be found and stand trial."

Didyme leaned forward in her seat, "It does give us more clues as to where Isabelle is from, her past and all that. From what I remember, Cullen claimed the Olympic peninsula area and that's where he makes his home."

"Yeah, but remember they're animal drinkers, they interact with humans on a regular basis with Cullen being a doctor and his changelings going to high school," Dora crossed her eyes. "Sounds like a horrible way to spend eternity. Because of this, they don't stay in one place too often or else it'll be obvious that they're not aging. Not like they don't already stick out like sore thumbs…"

"Still, the Olympic peninsula is a good place to start on looking for more answers," Sulpicia said to her sisters. She turned her attention to Athenodora, "Are Felix and Demetri ready for another mission or are you still retraining them?"

"They're still simpering fools, but if you're just after information gathering, they'll do fine," the blonde replied. "They're still pretty shook up by Isabelle's state prior to her turning, and what she did to Jane didn't help them any. I need to rip their heads off and let them stew a few more times before allowing them to go for a battle though."

"Summon them and tell them that they are to go to the Olympic peninsula and find trace of the Cullens, or even Isabelle's human life and that they are to report back to us as soon as they find anything," the dark queen said, standing up. "And if they dare displease me, I'm going to make them wish that it was you ripping their heads off."

"I tell ye Isa, the fiddle is the instrument ye shou'd learn first," Maggie said, picking up the instrument in the music room to show her new friend. "There nothin' in this wor'd that sounds as nice as the Irish Fiddle."

"I bed to differ Maggie," Marcus protested, "The lute and the harp, classical Greek instruments are superior to many instruments that followed."

"Nay Marcus, now I kno' ye been around for a whi'e, but you nay ever heard anythin' as beautiful as and Irish Fiddle playin' on a backdrop of emeral' green fields," the redhead continued to protest, much to the amusement of her coven mates.

Isabelle glanced between the instruments being pushed on her by both Maggie and Marcus, her eye continually drawn to the fiddle in the Irish vampire's hand. Marcus noticed her attention and sighed, "You want to play the fiddle don't you?"

"It looks so cool Marcus," Isabelle sighed, turning large crimson eyes towards the older vampire. "Please let Maggie teach me how to play."

"That's up to Maggie Isabelle," the large vampire replied, his voice drowned out by a squeal and the newborn launching herself at her new friend, instantly demanding that she start teaching her immediately. The two chattered while the three older vampires looked on in amusement.

"What do you think Liam?" Marcus asked quietly, looking at the lone male in the Irish coven.

Liam ripped his attention away from the younger vampires to focus on Marcus. "She ha' a rough time, her aura tells the story, but it's strange…"

"Wha' do ye mean strange?" Siobhan questioned.

The Irish vampire shrugged slightly, "It's weird, it's almos' like she has two auras, one that is fading away, weaker than the othe'. The stronger aura is bright, but damaged. There are cracks and fractures runnin' through it."

Siobhan looked back at the brunette vampire, sadness in her eyes, "Tha' awful."

"It not as ba' as ye think," Liam was quick to say. "The cracks look like they be fillin', like they're still there, and always will be, but somethin' is filling them."

"That must be what I'm reading in her bonds," Marcus commented. "Normal bonds for vampires are lines, cords of different colors stretching between two parties, pulsing in an equal give and take relationship. However, Isabelle's bonds, while they pulse out, more pulses come in, some stronger than others."

"So ye think tha' these pulses are wha' is filin' the cracks on the girl's soul?" Siobhan asked, wincing slightly at the sounds coming from Isabelle's attempt at playing the fiddle. The three vampires looked over at the two younger women, the redhead smiling encouragingly at the brunette.

"Tha' it Isa, practice makes perfect," Maggie grinned, encouraging the newborn to continue playing.

Marcus tried to drown out the sound as he continued to talk with Siohban and Liam, "Her bonds with others are sealing the cracks. Obviously her bond with Sulpicia is the most important, but her bond with Athenodora, Caius, Me, Didyme, Chelsea and Afton are also important. Heidi is probably the most important to her after Sulpicia since Isabelle sees her as an older sister, and it looks like Isabelle's bond with Maggie is also growing, like a best friend of confidant almost."

"Maggie is a good friend te have," Siobhan conceded, "She's honest, an extension of her gift for being able to recognize lies. She knows how to keep secrets though, which is another good aspect of friendship."

The larger vampire nodded, "I see bonds forming from Isabelle to the two of you, they are slight though, signifying that she doesn't know how to classify you two yet, but they are there."

"That is good to know," Siobhan replied while Liam simply nodded. He didn't speak much when around others outside of his mate and Maggie, only when necessary.

"Siobhan," Maggie interrupted, drawing her attention. "I told Isa about your gift, and she was wondering if you could visualize anything?" Siobhan quirked an eyebrow at her adopted daughter before looking at the brunette vampire questioningly.

"Like can you only visualize the outcome of events or can you visualize anything and project it?" Isabelle asked.

"What do you mean?"

Isabelle bit her lip briefly, tugging lightly on her long hair. "Heidi was showing me different books about animals in this world since I don't remember much about it. She showed me pictures of penguins in Antarctica, and Cia won't let me go since there aren't any humans down there and there wouldn't be anyway for me to feed for any length of time," she explained, looking at the Irish vampire with big, sad eyes. "Can you project a penguin for me please? A few penguins? Maybe all of Antarctica?"

Siobhan blinked at the request, "Penguins, really?"

"Have you seen them? They're so cute, they're birds but they don't fly, they swim, and there are all different kinds. They look like they're wearing little suits, and there are some that look like they have yellow eyebrows called macaroni penguins," Isabelle rushed out with a breath. "They're really cute!"

The Irish vampire stared at the girl in disbelief before she pictured a scenario in her mind, one with the brunette in front of her finally getting to go to Antarctica. She pulled her gift out into the world and saw an image of the newborn vampires sliding around on the snow and ice, waddling after a few of the penguins, cuddling them. Isabelle clapped her hands excitedly at the image, watching the strange, flightless birds with fascination in her eyes. "So is that what will happen?" She asked, turning her large red eyes to the Irish woman.

"This is an outcome of what would happen should you get to go to Antarctica at some point," Siobhan conceded.

"So you can sort of tell the future?"

"It more complicated t'an tha'," Siobhan said. "The future doesn't ha'e just one possibility, bu' I can imagine the outcome I want for most situations."

"This is going to happen then," Isabelle stated firmly, "I'm gong to play with penguins… after I learn to play this fiddle, Maggie!" The red-haired girl grabbed the brunette by her wrist and dragged her back over to a corner to practice playing the fiddle.

"Newborn mood changes," the Irish woman sighed, causing the two male vampires to chuckle.

"It's difficult to determine what is a newborn mood swing and what is something so fundamentally Isabelle," Marcus amended. "Sulpicia sure has been amusing since Isabelle has been here."

At that moment, the dark Volturi queen glided into the room, her eyes fixed on her brother-in-law. "Have you been telling stories on me dear brother?" Sulpicia purred, her eyes holding a dangerous glint.

"Of course not dear sister, we were just discussing how wonderful it is that you found your mate after all of these years," Marcus replied smiling.

"Careful Marcus, or the Irish might just mistake you for one of their kindred as you've been kissing the blarney stone," the queen countered, an amused smirk on her face. She turned briefly to where her mate and Maggie were locked in an animated discussion on the far side of the room. A soft smile crossed her face at the happy look on her mate's face, one she had not seen outside their bedroom in days.

"Isabelle seems very special," Siobhan commented to the queen, moving to stand next to her. "We have decided to stay. After Liam got a look at her aura and Marcus told us that her bond with Maggie was growing swiftly, we decided it was best to stay longer than we intended to, if that was alright with you."

Sulpicia wordlessly extended her hand to the male member of the Irish coven and he grasped it quickly, understanding what she wanted. The queen pushed past most of his memories, lingering slightly at the side of the emerald green fields of Ireland, contemplating how stunning Isabelle would look spread out naked on the ground writhing in pleasure on those green fields. She stopped that train of thought and focused back onto the task at hand, his most recent memories and his assessment of her beautiful mate's soul.

She had to fight back the urge to react visibly to what she saw, taking in the cracks and breaks in Isabella's aura with acceptance but also anger. The dark haired woman knew that they were right in their discussion, the cracks would never go away, but she would pour all of her love into her mate to make sure that the cracks never broke. She released Liam's hand and made her way over to where Isabelle and Maggie were practicing the fiddle. "Ciao my love," Sulpicia purred as she wrapped her arms around the smaller vampire's waist, peppering light kisses along her neck. "I see you're getting along well with Maggie."

Isabelle grinned and leaned back slightly into the queen, looking at her out of the corner of her eye. "Yes! Maggie is amazing, she's teaching me how to play the fiddle. And Siobhan and Liam are awesome as well, Siobhan showed me my future of playing with penguins in Antarctica!"

Sulpicia twisted around slightly so as not to let go of the brunette to glare slightly at the Irish woman, "Don't encourage her."

Siobhan smirked, "There nothin' wrong with dreamin' now is there?"

The queen crinkled her nose, "Those silly birds stink of fish all the time."

"But they're so cute," Isabelle squeaked out. She looked at the older vampire with pleading eyes, causing her to sigh.

"When you can control your thirst more, we'll go down to Antartica for you to play with the penguins," she grumbled out reluctantly, wincing slighting when Isabelle grabbed her in a tight hug, her newborn strength still slightly out of control.

"Who e'er would've thought te see the dark queen of the Volturi as a big ol' softy around her mate," Siobhan chuckled.

Sulpicia turned around slightly and glanced back at the other vampires again, "Do not speak of this ever again."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

 **Review please**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thanks everyone who sent suggestions for Victoria. Her fate is still undecided as of now. We'll have to see how the story goes, I want to make sure that I'm being consistent with everything, so even if I do like Victoria's character and I feel bad for her, I can't play favorites.

More from me at the end, happy reading!

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: April 2nd, 2016**

 **Chapter 8**

He released his jaws from around the corpse of the human girl he had grabbed just an hour before, licking the fur on his muzzle to get the last of the blood and flesh. He growled in pleasure at the taste and the feel of the girl beneath his claws, the girl who dared flirt with him, touch him, feel what wasn't hers. He remembered her, tracked her, and grabbed her, the whore that she was.

He stood on his two legs, stretching his hands down to grasp at her long brown hair. He leaned down to sniff at her hair and growled in displeasure when he didn't encounter the scent he wanted. He ripped the hair away from the body beneath him, believing that it didn't deserve to have something that was _hers._ The wolf left the body and ran towards the small pond he had found on that first day, rising off and cleaning his prize. He made his way back to the hollowed tree and stuffed the knot of hair inside, resting it against the others he had collected.

The wolf was careful when choosing his prey, selecting towns and areas away from his claimed territory. They were bear attacks, the reports would say, young women who had wandered too close to the forest at dark and were left unprotected in the dusk of twilight. It was almost too easy for a superior predator to cover his hunting, using the stupidity of humans as his only protection. His hands brushed over the different knots of hair, a cruel smile twisting on his face.

He lingered in front of the tree for a while, fingering the strands and reminiscing each hunt. He had four now, each clump long brown hair in varying shades from chocolate to mahogany. He returned to his fur and four legs, running back to his own territory. The closer he came to his tribal lands, the muted voices of the other, less evolved members of the pack would become more prominent. He could hear the murmurings of three voices in his head, Embry, Quil and Brady. The youngest and weakest of the wolves, _Collin,_ had be disposed of by Quil, even though all of the wolves were weak of will, pathetic.

He approached silently through the forest, sensing something dangerous, malicious, something _familiar_. His golden eyes peered through the darkness, spotting a pale gray spotted wolf snarling at a chocolate brown wolf, globs of saliva falling out of his mouth. The two wolves charged at each other, biting slashing, both of equal size and strength. They snarled and growled, fighting each other into the ground much to his amusement and glee. A smaller, ash brown wolf barreled out of the trees, ramming straight into the chocolate brown wolf. The impact startled the wolf and sent him off balance, giving the smaller wolf enough of an advantage to latch onto his neck, ripping out his throat.

As the chocolate wolf choked and gagged on his own blood, the gray wolf hit the ash brown wolf while he was distracted, sinking his teeth into the smaller wolf's neck as his claws ripped into his body. The gray wolf twisted his head, shaking and slamming the smaller wolf into the ground. The brown wolf twitched and struggled until the fight left his body and he stilled.

He watched as the gray wolf stopped and dropped the wolf before staggering away through the forest. When the other wolf was out of sight, he moved, walking to where the other two had fallen. He snarled, taking in the sight of the pathetic creatures still twitching on the slightly on the forest floor. A dark red haze emerged from the two wolves in front of him, merging into a shadowy wolf. He backed up slightly at the sight of the creature, growling at it. The wolf gave its own growl in response, vanishing as it snarled and lunged, disappearing into thin air.

He sniffed around, warily looking for the ghostly wolf in the darkness of the forest. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound, almost as if the entire wood was frightened and disturbed by what happened. He shook his head, ridding himself of the unease he felt deep in his bones and made his way back to his home, knowing that the alpha wolves would come soon and find the two pathetic creatures dead on the ground. He melted back into the trees and located the small den he had dug for himself just outside of the boundary line. He curled into the small hole, thinking of his next hunt all the while dreaming of a pale face, chocolate eyes, and long, brown hair.

* * *

Isabelle let out a loud breath of air with a whoosh as her back hit the floor of the training room again. Afton was grinning in amusement above her and she scowled up at him, tired of ending up on the ground during their training sessions. They had added sparring to their strength-training regime a few days ago, and so far every time she had her ass thoroughly handed to by the guard member. Today was the first day she had an audience outside of Chelsea and Heidi though.

"Isa," Maggie called out to her from the side of the room, "You're suppose' ta stay on your feet when fighting, that's generally how this works."

"Thanks Maggie," Isabelle groaned as she climbed back to her feet. "Since you're so willing to provide advice, why don't you demonstrate how to fight properly? All Afton has done so far is how not to fight."

"Well tha' is an important part of the learning process," Maggie replied, smirking. "Bu' if ya need an example on how to do this properly, I'll be happy to show ya how it's done."

Isabelle waved her hand, prompting the redhead to step onto the training field while she walked off to join Heidi and Chelsea on the sidelines. She latched onto the tall, mahogany haired vampire, curling her body into Heidi's side. "Hello sweetie," Heidi cooed, kissing the younger vampire lightly on the top of her head.

Chelsea snorted, "Aren't you laying it on a little thick?"

"It's been a long time since there's been a newborn in the castle," Heidi pouted, eyeing her best friend with a scowl. "Especially one as snuggly as Isabelle, so let me have some snuggles with my little sister without your bringing your negativity along please."

"I'm right here guys," Isabelle muttered into Heidi's arm, "stop talking over me like I'm not here."

"Sorry Isa," Chelsea chuckled, patting the girl on the back. "We're still getting used to the personality you've developed. You were pretty quiet the first few weeks you were here after all."

"Sulpicia did all the talking, I was still trying to take it all in," the brunette murmured. "And don't think I didn't notice you've adopted the name that Maggie has given me."

The curly haired guard smirked at the brunette, "It's cute, and saying Isabelle all the time gets boring. And it's kinda awkward when Queen Sulpicia looks at you with dark eyes and practically purrs _Isabelle…"_

Isabelle rolled her eyes and pressed in closer to Heidi, focusing her attention back on the Irish vampire and the Volturi guard on the training field. They danced around the field, like two performers in a play, neither really landing a hit as the blocked anything the other threw at them. Doing her best to track their movements, Isabelle committed to memory everything that she saw, everything that they did. "I can't do that," she whimpered as Maggie did some kind of back flip and latched her legs around Afton's neck, bringing him to the ground.

Heidi and Chelsea chuckled at her words. "That's easy Isa," Chelsea laughed, "and remember that we've had hundreds of years of experience on fighting. You're not even a month old yet, so don't worry about being perfect in fighting. Mistress Sulpicia wants us to make sure that you know how to take care of yourself and protect yourself on the ever unlikely instances that she's not around to protect you."

The newborn tilted her head slightly at Chelsea's words, mulling over them. "Does she not want me to be in the guard?" She asked quietly.

Chelsea thought about the question for a moment before deferring to Heidi to answer, choosing to enter the training field and assist the Irish vampire with beating up her mate. "Isabelle, Isa," Heidi cooed, drawing the younger vampire's attention. Isabelle turned her gaze to the older vampire, large and pleading, searching for answers with her dark, nearly black eyes. Heidi brushed her fingers against the bruises forming under Isabelle's eyes and frowned, "Hmm, you need to feed, why didn't you tell us you were hungry?"

Not sure how to reply, Isabelle just shrugged. Heidi sighed and then called out to the three vampires in the training aread, "Guys, hate to break this up, but I'm taking Isabelle out for a hunt. We'll be back later."

"Maybe by the time you're back, Afton will be making his big comeback," Chelsea snickered as she sat on the aforementioned vampire's head while Maggie held down his wrists.

"Just wait until I really start fighting," Afton grumbled, trying to dislodge the two women.

"Instea' of wha' exactly?" Maggie grinned, "This plain' around you've been doing? I've jus' been getting warmed up."

Heidi ushered Isabelle out of the room and through the castle, catching a lower guard member on the way to inform the Queen that she was taking Isabelle out hunting. The guard scurried away quickly terrified of both brunettes and having to report to the queen on the whereabouts of her mate. "Let's head south to Grosseto instead of over to Florence or Siena, vary it up a little bit," Heidi suggested. "I would suggest Rome, but it is a little further away and you need to feed soon."

Isabelle nodded and followed Heidi out of the castle and into the Italian night air. Time of day held no meaning for her, as she didn't need to sleep anymore, so she wasn't aware that it was night until they stepped outside. It was strange, or at least, part of her mind told her that it should be strange that she no longer needed to track the passing of time, the hands on a clock, the flipping of digital numbers. However, she doesn't remember a time when she was aware of the hours slipping away, being bound by the number on a clock's face, just a vague feeling that this foreign entity was once important to her but has since slipped through her fingers like meaningless sand. She pondered this while she followed Heidi as they ran down to Grosseto, thinking more and more about the life she had, the life she lost.

She told Sulpicia that it didn't matter, that it didn't bother her, though her mate knew that it did, and it does. Unwittingly, she finds herself thinking about it, her human life, wondering what type of person she was, what kind of life she led. When she's alone, without her mate, her sister or anyone to distract her, her thoughts turn to unpleasant thoughts, her human life haunting her mind even though she remembers it not and feels no connection to it. She wonders how vampires haven't gone insane with how many thoughts can run through their minds. Then she wonders if she hasn't gone insane yet, especially with what she did to Jane, but then her mind questions what is insanity?

Heidi started to slow down as they approached the town and Isabelle followed suit, shaking away her thoughts to focus on the issue at hand, the intense burning sensation in her throat. "Now you remember that you can't just lunge at people," Heidi said, grabbing Isabelle's arm. "Lure them, seduce them, or simply take them, but you can't just eat them in full view of everyone."

The brunette nodded, having gotten this lecture from both Sulpicia and Heidi when she first started to learn to hunt on her own without others having to bring her humans or bagged blood to tide herself over. Although she was almost positive Sulpicia would have been content hunting for her for the rest of eternity, Isabelle wanted to hunt, wanted to know that she could entrap humans as easily as her mate or Heidi could.

Isabelle listened to the sounds of the city, her head swiveling around as her mind searched for easy targets, analyzing everything she could hear. Sulpicia preferred to take anyone off the street, anyone alone. Heidi on the other hand liked to enter bars and less than savory establishments and entice her dinner to come with her, but Isabelle, she liked to take those that wouldn't be missed, those existing on the fringes of society.

Her mate questioned her on this preference when she first started hunting, focusing on the heartbeats she could hear slow and sluggish in alleys or following terrified screams. It wasn't an attempt on her part to clean up humanity or protect it, her lack of human memories severing her from that desire forever. She felt lazy about feeding really, searching for easy targets like homeless suffering from malnutrition or unconscious drunks or drugs addicts, humans who wouldn't put up much of a fight.

Her sensitive hearing picked up the sound of a faint heartbeat not far from them and she slowly followed the sound, finding a middle aged man tucked away in a darkened corner. The man was dirty, hair unkempt and scraggly, reeking of alcohol and stale cigarette smoke. Isabelle grabbed him and tugged him further out of the sight of any prying eyes before sinking her teeth in his neck, moaning as the red liquid ran down her throat. The man never awoke as death came for him, his life's blood being used to sustain a vampire's life.

Isabelle drank the last of the blood from the man and wiped at the stray drops that escaped from her mouth. "You're getting better at this," Heidi commented, watching the girl. The older vampire picked up the body and rushed out of town, the newborn on her heels. Finding a secluded spot, Heidi set the body down and waved at Isabelle to spit some venom on it before lighting it on fire, leaving no remnant as the venom fueled flame even ate away at the bone.

"You going to answer my question now?" Isabelle asked once the body finished burning and the purple smoke disappeared into the air. "Does Sulpicia not want me on the guard?"

Heidi bit her lip and looked at the younger vampire before glancing away to the west. "Let's go look at the ocean for a bit while we talk, I don't feel like having this conversation in the castle. Pretty sure Queen Sulpicia would kill me, and she still might if she sees this in my memories," Heidi groused. She grabbed Isabelle's arm and pulled her along behind her, settling down on a hill overlooking the ocean.

"All right," Heidi started after taking in a few large breaths of salty air. "The guard thing… If you haven't notice, the Mistress is extremely dominant, like extremely. She's older in vampire years than both Mistress Athenodora and Mistress Didyme; she was a warrior in her human years, fierce, strong, scary, you know these things though, but she was also a little lonely. We all knew when she finally found her mate, that whoever it was would fit perfectly with her and that she would destroy the entire world rather than letting her mate come to harm."

Isabelle nodded her head, her soul, her bond connecting her to her mate telling her that Heidi's words were true. "Right, you know these things, you recognize this about her," the mahogany haired vampire said, glancing from the water to the younger vampire next to her. "Do you think that a vampire, no a vampire queen like Sulpicia would allow her mate to be placed in danger? To be on the guard?" Isabelle shook her head slowly, knowing that her mate wouldn't be happy if she were in danger.

"So she's not going to let me be on the guard?"

"Eh, that's not what I'm saying exactly," Heidi said, letting out a frustrated groan. "Look, the Queen has waited for you for thousands of years, she doesn't want you in danger, ever, but more than that she wants you happy and she wants you to have a choice. Most of us have lived through times when women were not allowed to have control over our live and our futures, but as vampires we have the ultimate control. If you want to be on the guard, I have no doubt that Sulpicia will let you be on the guard."

"Really?"

Heidi nodded, pulling the younger vampire to her, "Really, though not until after your newborn year and your fighting skills are on par with like Master Caius."

Isabelle snorted, "That's not ever going to happen, though why after my newborn year though?"

"Newborns aren't allowed on the guard."

"Aren't newborns stronger though?"

"Physically yes, but in every other way? No, too many emotions running through your heads, still getting used to all of the different sensations. I was part of another coven before I came here, but the mistresses put whatever newborns that are going to be a part of the guard through intensive training, pretty similar to what you're going through right now with Afton. Though it's much more drastic, going through trials to learn to control your thirsty, emotions, senses. Since Sulpicia turned you herself, you have an advantaged with having her venom running through you. It's old, already knows everything pretty well, so you're having an easier time transitioning."

"Easier?" Isabelle snorted, "I don't remember anything about my life, and literally nothing about this world. The only things I could remember were things that probably were ingrained within me like how to walk and talk, put cloths on, brush my hair, but even then I had to relearn most of it with my new strength. My mate, my beautiful, amazing, drop dead sexy mate is one of the queens of the vampire world, how is any of this easier?"

"I admit, the Queen mate thing is a little unusual, but most everything else? It's pretty much the same for most vampires. I wish I could forget my human life, I lost most of it in the change, but some things are still there," Heidi sighed again, looking taking in the crescent moon reflecting on the waters. Her arm tightened around Isabelle's shoulders as the younger vampire shifted to see her face better.

Heidi could sense Isabelle's questioning eyes and she squeezed her tighter for a moment before speaking again. "I don't remember much of my human life," the older vampire murmured, "Just the truly haunting parts. It was… several hundred years ago, I wasn't very old yet, maybe around ten? My parents had too many kids and couldn't afford to feed us all. I remember some of my older brothers being sent away to work on farms or in town as servants, but with my looks, even as a child, I was sold to a brothel, a whore house. It wasn't pleasant."

Isabelle laid her head on her sister's shoulder, trying to offer comfort as best as she could and Heidi smiled slightly at the effort. I was there for nearly fifteen years, I suffered through unimaginable horrors at that place. I was pregnant several times, none of the children were ever born alive. Looking back, I'm slightly glad they didn't survive, I didn't want that kind of life for any of my children." The mahogany haired vampire shook her head slightly to get back on track, "Two other girls from my village were there with me, Anne and Mary, though they were younger than I was, in their late teens, but we were best friends. A woman named Hilda came aground a few times, paying for time with us but never making us do… things with her, nothing other than talk. She ended up rescuing me and changing me, and then Mary and Anne in the following years. She felt sorry for us and wanted to help, wanted to get us away from that miserable situation and she did."

"What happened to her, to them?"

"It was years after I was turned. Anne had a younger sister that she went back for once she could control herself; she was named Victoria. Anne turned her and she joined our coven; there were five of us including Hilda, but after a few more years, Hilda turned another girl, named Noela. The- someone, someone evil, came to Hilda, accusing her of attracting attention with rampaging newborns, though she never turned more than one of us at a time, and with a few years in between. He didn't care and destroyed my coven anyway, only Victoria and I survived, and I haven't seen her in centuries."

A sadden expression crossed the brunette's face as venom tears welled in her eyes, "Who would do something so horrible?"

"Someone evil, someone who thought that he could and should control the vampire world and gifted vampire," the older vampire replied, a dark look on her features. "Thankfully he isn't around anymore, so you don't have to worry about a vampire world with him in it. Those were, much darker times when he was around."

Isabelle studied Heidi's face, knowing that there was something she wasn't telling her, and while part of her mind wanted to press for more answers, another part thought that maybe _Heidi_ wasn't the person to answer those questions.

They sat and stared at the water for a while longer before the nearly silent rustling of feet on the earth disturbed them out of their quiet contemplation. Heidi reacted on instinct and pulled Isabelle over her body, pushing her away just as another form collided with her own. Isabelle turned from where Heidi had shoved her and saw her sister fighting with another vampire, one with a mass of bright, curly red hair. It differed from Maggie's hair in that where Maggie's looked like dark blood, this looked like a vicious, all consuming flame.

"Victoria?" Heidi gasped out, trying to grab onto the enraged, savage-like vampire above her.

The red-haired vampire glanced down at her with dark, black eyes before looking up and around for her intended target. Her eyes focused on the brunette watching them and she hissed out, lunging for her. Isabelle dodged and Heidi latched onto Victoria's leg, tossing her away from the younger vampire. She didn't even want to consider what Sulpicia would do to her if she let her mate get hurt.

Victoria hit the ground and flipped over, her dark, wild eyes roving between her former coven mate and her target. She focused on the older vampire, knowing that if she took her out first, it would be easier to get to the younger one. Something clicked in Isabelle as she saw the vampire focus her attention on Heidi. Time appeared to slow as her mind slipped away and her eyes darkened, the black cloud seeping out of her and into the redhead, freezing the attacking vampire in her place. The black cloud disappeared inside the vampire, and she dropped to the ground, her eyes blacked out and arching purple strands of electricity covering her body.

Heidi glanced down at the body of her former coven mate before looking up at her little sister. "You're getting faster at that," she commented, bending over to stretch slightly. "I'm guessing you don't know why she was after you?"

"I don't even know who she is," Isabelle murmured, moving closer to get a better look at the woman on the ground. A flash of red entered her mind and a spike of fear flooded her body briefly before disappearing. "I- she seems familiar, like a dream, but like everything, I don't remember her. You said her name was Victoria? As in your old coven mate Victoria?"

"Yeah, we better get her back to the castle, Mistress Sulpicia will want to read her. She might hold some more information to your past, especially since she seemed to know you," Heidi replied, picking up the limp body.

Isabelle nodded he head, looking at the vampire hesitantly, "I wish I knew what my gift did to them though, her and Jane."

"Whatever it is, is fucking useful," Heidi said, "Now come on, time to go face the music. The Mistress is never going to forgive me for allowing you to be attacked."

"I'll protect you Heidi," Isabelle chuckled, following the older vampire back towards the castle.

* * *

"Three more wolves have died Sam," Emily screamed at him as he rushed out of the house towards the tribal council hall to meet with the elders. "And of course you go running to the elders instead of trying to find answers." She recoiled backwards when Sam turned his head, his glowing golden eyes glaring at her. She returned into the house, slamming about in frustration. Quil and Brady had been found the other day, Embry wandering around like a zombie, a nearly feral zombie. Jared had started to act strangely as well, and killed Embry the night before.

The wolves were rapidly descending into madness, progressively getting worse the more members were killed. Sam, Jacob, Jared and Paul remained, though since Jared killed Embry, he has been behaving strangely and Paul has been out of it since Bella disappeared. Her mind shifted from one topic to another as she pulled pots and pans out of her cupboards to start cooking lunch and dinner for her wolf, her body moving on autopilot.

A thought suddenly tripped her in mind as she thought of Quil, dear sweet, loveable Quil and his overly large ears and puppy like energy about everything. Her mind already slipped to her niece Claire as she had them paired together in her mind since Quil had imprinted on the small girl months before hand. Thoughts of the young girl had Emily rushing to the phone and dialing her sister's number on the Makah reservation.

"Pick up pick up pick up," Emily chanted quietly as her hands shook, the phone ringing abrasive against her ear.

 _"Hello?"_ Anna's voice finally answered at the other end of the line and Emily nearly sobbed in relief that she had finally picked up.

"Hey Anna, it's Emily," she greeted, trying to keep the conversation curious and friendly since her sister didn't know anything about the wolves or Quil imprinting on Claire.

 _"Emily! Hey little sis,"_ Anna's cheery voice came. _"How are you doing down in La Push?"_

"Everything's good here," Emily replied, lying through her teeth. "Some tragedies around the reservation, which I'm sure you've heard."

 _"Yes, news reached us, I can't believe it, Quil and some of his friends killed in a boating accident."_ Emily heard Anna sigh. _"It's such a shame, I didn't get to speak with him much, but it seemed like Quil was a nice guy, and his friends too."_

"He was very nice. With the deaths, I realized that I haven't spoken with you in a while, and you know, death puts everything in perspective. I decided to call you up and see how you and the girls were doing."

 _"Mia and Claire are doing just fine, they're both outside playing in the tree house their father built for them a few months ago."_

"Claire's playing in the tree house?" Emily couldn't believe it, the little girl had always seemed afraid of the tree house and wouldn't go near it.

 _"Right? It was weird. I don't know if I've told you, but we were really concerned for her the past few months. She changed so much after she visited you down in La Push."_

That caught Emily's attention, "Changed how?"

 _"Like she was more withdrawn almost? Hesitant about things. She was always very outgoing before that, very vibrant, always the first to charge into things, and was looking forward to playing soccer with the other kids. We didn't notice it right away, but when she came back, she was less inclined to play sports or play in the mud, and started playing with her sister's old dolls, tea parties and things like that. We just assumed it was a phase and that she would return to her normal self, and it looks like we were right. Just had to give her time to test things out."_

Emily's mind worked furiously over the things she was told, conclusions being drawn that she didn't like. "When did she start playing outside again?"

 _"Hmm, oh it was a few days ago. She came down with a pretty bad 24 hour bug, mostly consisting of a sore throat, but she recovered quickly and was outside in that tree house before any of us knew what hit us."_ Anna chuckled. " _It would seem being sick set herself back in perspective and she wanted to play again. She even asked when she could sign up for the tiny tots soccer team."_ Emily heard an insistent voice calling for her sister on the other end of the line. _"Oh that's Mia, Claire's hanging off one of the branches again pretending to fly. Did you want to speak to the girl's or just want to catch up?"_

"No, it's fine, I can call you later and speak with them," Emily said quickly. The two said their goodbyes and Emily held onto the phone, her mind trying to process what she had just learned. "What is going on?"

* * *

 **A/N:** I was going to deal with Victoria later, but I realized this was the perfect opportunity to deal with her. And as for the pack, we are down to Sam, Jared, Jacob and Paul, hopefully this is an indicator of where things are going. In a few chapters, I'm going to be including a history chapter for the pack to explain what exactly has been happening and why.

I don't know if Emily's relation to Claire other than being her niece was explained, or if Claire's sister had a name. I didn't read the books, or watch the movies beyond the first two. The only reason I write in this fandom is because someone asked and I like messing with the characters. They're ridiculous.

 **Review please**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Sorry I didn't update last week guys, but it was a rough week. I had most of this chapter finished until all hell broke loose so I decided not to write for the remainder of the week as I was afraid I would do something I would regret, like kill off all of the characters. This is the part where I ask for funny stories to help myself feel better, I usually do once or twice a story. Funny stories or spooky stories please.

I think I'm on track to be able to update next Saturday as well, but I can't make any promises. Anyway, the first arc of this story is almost done, being the part dealing with the wolves, while the second arc deals with the Cullens and the Gensis Project. It's all in the same story, I just divided it because I didn't want to deal with too many problems in one go.

In other news, I'm thinking about posting the first chapter of the Bella/Tanya AU I've been writing sometime later this week, just as a test chapter to see if people like it. Keep a look out for it, though it won't be updated regularly until I get this story finished.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: April 16th, 2016**

 **Chapter 9**

Sulpicia sat stone faced as one of her hands gripped Heidi's wrist, and her other arm was wrapped securely around her mate who was curled up on her lap. Her eyes were cold and hard, staring at the limp body on the floor of the throne room. She filed away the talk Heidi and Isabelle had to address later; she knew she would have to tell Isabelle about Aro, but at the moment she had more pressing issues to address. "Thank you Heidi," Sulpicia said, releasing the younger vampire's hand.

Heidi nodded her head and moved away to stand next to Chelsea and Afton at the foot of the dais. The queen stared hard at the immobile vampire on the ground, pulling her mate even tighter into her. "Bring that here," she ordered finally, motioning towards Afton to pick up the body.

The large vampire nodded and picked up Victoria, roughly dropping her in front of the queen's throne. He placed his weight over her legs and torso in case she were to come out of the state Isabelle had forced her in, and lifted her left arm up for the queen. Sulpicia sneered at in distaste before stretching out her index finger and lightly touching the hand in front of her, allowing the memories to flow into her mind. She watched the destruction of Hilda's coven through Victoria's viewpoint, having seen it from Heidi's perspective numerous times. She felt a flicker of sorrow from the memories when the redhead's biological sister was ripped apart in front of her.

Sulpicia continued through the memories, only taking mild interest in the other vampire's life, though she was intrigued by her gift of survival. She could see how Victoria escaped Aro's purging of the old German coven. Her nose scrunched in distaste when Victoria encountered a dirty blonde haired man, James, who turned out to be her mate. The crimes the two of them and their third coven mate Laurent would have been enough to see the three of them executed for blatantly taunting their abilities and vampiric nature to the humans they hunted and tortured.

Her mind focused when the memories showed Victoria's encounter with the Cullen coven over a year ago, her eyes spotting a familiar brunette tucked behind a snarling, copper-haired vampire. Many of her questions were answered in the memories and she fought the urge to tear the vampire apart where she lay but Sulpicia remembered her young mate still tucked in her arms. "Take her down to the dungeons," she ordered. "Use the shackles, she is not to escape. Have Santiago watch her and let him know his life in contingent on her staying in the dungeon."

"Yes Mistress," Afton replied, grabbing the body and darting off towards the dungeon and to find the other guard member.

Sulpicia stood, bringing Isabelle with her in her arms, who purred at the motion and the act of being carried. "Chelsea, Heidi, retrieve Felix and Demetri from Caius's care, I have a task for them that is long over due," she said, striding out of the room. "I will be in my office, find my sisters and alert them before you retrieve the two idiots."

The two women nodded and Sulpicia started towards her office, breaking into a run once she was out of sight and entering her office only a few seconds later. She set Isabelle down on the couch and started pacing in front of her, anger and fury coursing through her body. "Cia," Isabelle started, after watching her pace around for a few minutes. "Cia what's wrong?"

The queen stopped pacing and sighed before sitting down next to Isabelle on the loveseat. "She knew you, before, she knew you as a human," Sulpicia said slowly. "When I looked through her memories, I got more answers about how you knew about vampires before you came here, and maybe how you got to be in the state you were in when you got here."

Isabelle opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Athenodora and Didyme burst through the door. "We heard what happened," Didyme said, walking up to the two of them. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good Didyme," Isabelle replied, smiling at the older vampire.

"Thank you sister," Sulpicia interjected. "Could you two give us a few more minutes alone? I need to tell Isabelle some things, and it might go better alone."

"Of course sister, we'll keep ourselves occupied by torturing Felix and Demetri in the hallway," Dora told her, pulling her other sister back out into the hall.

Isabelle glanced at the door, waiting for a moment before looking back at her mate. "What did you see?"

"Your name was Isabelle Swan," Sulpicia began after a moment. "You were involved with a coven of vampires, the Cullen coven." Isabelle thought she felt a pang of something inside of her at the name, but it disappeared quickly. "One of their members was convinced you were his mate, though I suspect you were his singer. Victoria's mate was amused by his reaction and decided to hunt you, against his mate's wishes. He chased you, caught you and bit you, but you were prevented from turning. Her mate was destroyed, and it enraged Victoria. She spent months plotting revenge and decided to come after you. She encountered a problem when she kept running into gigantic wolves when trying to get to you."

"Giant wolves?" Isabelle questioned, fear in her eyes."

Sulpicia nodded, "Yes, they kept chasing her off. It seems that they were inept though so didn't catch her. She found that you had left and somehow managed to track you here. Her desire for vengeance for her mate has driven her mad."

The brunette was silent for a moment, "Can you help her?"

The queen sighed, "I'm not sure. Usually when one mate dies, the other seeks to follow them immediately. Her desire for revenge has prolonged her life, so I don't know if she can be saved or if she is beyond saving." Sulpicia looked at her mate curiously, "You do know that this vampire is trying to kill you right."

Isabelle shrugged, "I think she's confused, she was going after the easy target. I doubt that I managed to kill her mate as a human, but she didn't want to go after this coven that killed him. You are one of the queens of the Volturi, the law and order of the vampire world, I think it's part of your job to help her."

"Well I'll definitely be having words with the Cullens at some point," Sulpicia groused, "She may have her turn after I'm through with them."

The younger vampire giggled slightly before her face sobered. "And these… wolves, you think they were the ones who hurt me? Trapped my soul?"

"It was a bastardized mating bond, and yes, I do think they are the ones who did that to you," the queen growled. "And now that I have a set location on where they are, Felix and Demetri will be going and doing some scouting before I decide on going to take care of them myself." Isabelle nodded her head and Sulpicia seemed surprised at her easy acceptance of her desire to wipe out a species. "You do not disapprove of this course? You who wants mercy granted to the woman who tried to kill you in both of your lives?"

"Victoria's crimes were justified," Isabelle responded. "Crazy and irrational, but justified. I would've done the same thing if something happened to you, and you yourself told me that you would destroy the world if anything happened to me. These wolves however… what if there are others they've trapped in the same way?"

Sulpicia smirked at her words, "That is another reason why I'm sending Felix and Demetri to assess the situation. We need more information about these creatures." She stood up from her place next to her mate and opened the door, waving her sisters and the two guards into her office. "I have a task for you two," Sulpicia addressed the two men as her sisters seated themselves in the room.

"Yes Mistress," Felix said, avoiding any eye contact with the queens or the newborn vampire.

The queen sneered at the fear still evident in both of the dimwits in front of her but smirked internally. "You will be traveling in secret, without the Volturi jet, I don't want anyone aware of where you where you're going. The arrangements will be made, you will fly into Seattle Washington in the United States, and you will head to the town of Forks. You are to locate Carlisle Cullen's old home and collect information from the locals on what he was like in town, what he did, he and his family." Sulpicia eyed the both of them, "I don't need to tell you two how to properly blend in with humans right?"

"No Mistress," Demetri replied.

"Good. You are to observe and collect information," Sulpicia continued, sitting down at her desk. "There are also native lands close to the town, and you are to look for any strange occurrences there as well. The lands are protected by giant wolves, so you will need to be careful and keep your distance when observing them." She nearly smirked again in amusement at the shock on their face but held it in. "Heidi," Sulpicia called, knowing that the female guard was waiting in the hallway.

Heidi flashed into the room, "Yes Mistress?"

The queen pulled the tablet out of her desk and handed it to the guard. "Arrange two seats to Seattle Washington on the earliest available flight for Felix and Demetri, first class," she said, looking at the two male guards. "You will pack with you what you need to accomplish this task, and check in with me every day to alert me of your progress. My sisters and I will decide what to do with the information you give us."

The mahogany haired guard finished typing on the tablet, "Their flight leaves early tomorrow morning my queen."

"Then you two better go prepare for your trip," Sulpicia replied, waving dismissively to the two men. They nodded and dashed out of the room to their own respective quarters.

"Cia," Isabelle started, drawing the queen's attention. "I know you're going to want to talk with Dora and Dy about everything, may I go with Heidi? If I stay here for this conversation again, I'm going to be dreadfully bored."

Sulpicia chuckled and stood up, walking over to her mate seated on the couch. She pulled the younger vampire up and into her arms, laying a soft kiss on her forehead and a searing kiss on her lips. "You may go with Heidi precious," she whispered into Isabelle's ear once she disconnected their lips. "Though I expect you to be in our bedroom in an hour, don't think I don't feel your growing need, my precious one."

Isabelle moaned and Sulpicia instantly detected an increased level of arousal wafting from her mate. The queen could feel her eyes darkening and took a deep breath, inhaling even more of her mate's scent. "I'll take care of that for you later precious, but I need you to go with Heidi right now. The wait will make it better darling, I promise, and we won't have anything to distract us."

The newborn vampire pressed herself closer to her mate, placing a kiss on her neck before tearing herself away and tugging Heidi out the door. Sulpicia stared after her mate for a few minutes before turning back to her sisters, glaring at the smirks on their faces. "Don't say a word," she warned them.

"Dear sister, we," Athenodora started, motioning between herself and Didyme, "are just enjoying the lovely phermones you and your mate are putting out. It's nice for us to see you all dominate, but soft and loving, touchy-feely, pet names and all. The dominate thing, well yes that's typical, you are an Amazon after all, but we had no idea you would be so loving and doting on your mate. It's… adorable."

Sulpicia rolled her eyes and sat down, "Can we get to the topic at hand please?"

"Fine fine, no sense of humor," Dora grumbled. "What did you see in that crazy vampire's memories? Cullen was the one that told exposed Isabelle to vampires?"

"Yes, Victoria's memories," Sulpicia specified, "revealed that she and her coven encountered Isabelle with the Cullens, and attacked her. Victoria's mate ended up being killed, so you can understand why she's a little unstable."

"Marked mate?" Didyme asked. Seeing Sulpicia's nod, the other vampire gasped, "How is she still alive? Marked mates seek out death almost immediately after their mate's death."

"Revenge is a very strong force," Athenodora conceded, "almost like a compulsion, especially if the Cullens killed her mate in defense of Isabelle. I would do the same thing that she did if something happened to Caius, going after the weak link first, which is what I'm assuming Victoria did."

Sulpicia scrubbed at her face and sighed, "I know, Isabelle pointed out to me that I would've done the same thing, that I've said repeatedly that I would do something similar if something happened to her. That's what makes this annoying in regards to Victoria, my instincts are telling me to dispose of her, but the queen in me is saying that she's not totally responsible for her actions."

Athenodora nodded her head, "It's one of those infernal paradoxes, having to repress our instincts in order to continue to manage the greater good of the vampire species. Though, one thing your instincts might agree on, the real culprits here are the Cullens. Exposing a human to vampires, killing half of a mated pair, not to mention the charges for enacting a part of the Genesis Project."

"As soon as Felix and Demetri finish the mission to Forks Washington to look into these giant wolves, I'm going to send them looking for the Cullens," Sulpicia replied. "Though I have a feeling they're going to be particularly difficult to find."

"Yeah yeah, now what is this about giant wolves?" Athenodora asked, sitting up, "Like werewolves?"

The dark queen tilted her head slightly, "They looked like real wolves, only much larger rather than the large, sickly, humanoid look of the werewolves we know. They kept chasing Victoria away from their lands, though it did appear as if they were trying to catch her, but were rather incompetent about that."

The blonde woman leaned back in her seat and hummed, "If they turn out to be werewolves or some form of them, they'll need to be destroyed. They have to be related, that mating bond that was forced onto Isabelle had to have come from one of them. It's very close to what the werewolves forced onto their mates, I don't know why I didn't see it before."

"Demetri and Felix will be observing them, their behavior and habits, and hopefully will get information on their history," Sulpicia said. "Demetri has no scent, so he should be able to get more information out of them. If not, well then I will collect the required information when I go."

"Like hell you're going without me," Athenodora protested, her eyes flashing. "I know that Isabelle is your mate and you deserve first rights to take revenge on those who hurt her, but these are potentially bastardized werewolves we're talking about here, I deserve to have a say in this as well."

Sulpicia nodded, knowing that her sister had the right to find out if these creatures were related to werewolves. Many in the Volturi thought that the blonde queen's desire to wipeout the werewolf species was excessive but few knew the actual reason for her intense hatred. Werewolves ravaged Athenodora's entire family and village when she was just a child. She was hidden and spirited away but she saw what the beasts did, the brutality as he family, friends were taken, beaten, used… eaten. She carried those images with her through her life into adulthood, and she made it her personal mission to eradicate the entire species. The blonde trained, fought, decimating anyone who got in her way. Her fierceness is what drew Sulpicia to her, one warrior recognizing another. Dora agreed to the change so long as she could continue with her mission to wipe out all werewolves, and Sulpicia agreed, promising to help her.

While she understood her sister's need, her desire for justice and vengeance, but she would be damned if her sister got to wipe out these creatures before she got her hands on them. If they were the ones that harmed her mate, she would ensure that her precious Isabelle got her well-deserved revenge, even if she didn't know she needed it.

"Well now that we have that all settled," Didyme said, drawing both of her sisters' attention. "Let's talk about you mate Sulpicia."

Sulpicia groaned and Athenodora grinned, "Oh yes Cia, let's talk about Isabelle."

"I'm not sure I'm going to like this conversation," the dark queen muttered, but the other two continued on like they hadn't even heard her.

"It's very obvious that our dear sister is a dominate presence, isn't that right sister?" Didyme commented, looking to her blonde sister.

"Oh indeed, but the real question is will Isabelle be submissive in the relationship?"

Didyme shook her head, snickering, "I doubt it. When she comes out of her newborn period and she starts developing her own adult vampire personality, I think she's going to be a handful."

"She's gonna jump your bones sister," Athenodora added, wiggling her eyebrows at her older sister.

"I hate you two sometimes."

* * *

Felix and Demetri ran quietly through the forest, the pouring rain coming down around them covering the sound of their feet crunching the dead leaves and plants beneath them. Their flight from Italy had landed only a short while ago and they made their way out of Seattle, trying to leave as little a trace as possible. "Why must we be the ones who do this?" Felix grumbled out, looking over at Demetri.

"Did you want to remain at the castle with _her_ there?" The other vampire retorted, glancing over at his companion. "Or worse, did you want to be the one to tell the Mistress that we didn't want to go?"

The large, burly vampire shivered in fear at the mention of Isabelle, the eerie feeling about the woman intensifying after her change and witnessing what she did to Jane. "Good point, so we're supposed to observe and gather information? What kind of information does Mistress Sulpicia want?"

"I'm not ready to have my head detached from my shoulders so soon again, so we watch everything, report everything," Demetri replied, one of his hands rubbing at his neck absentmindedly as they ran.

"We're just going to skulk out in the forest in the rain the whole time?"

"Well, the Mistress said the first stop was the Cullen household, so we could break in there and take some clothes. I should be the one to do it though since I have no scent. You just stay in the forest watching the town, maybe interacting with some of the humans."

"Fine, if I'm going to be dealing with the humans, you're going to watch those wolves, you just said you have no scent. They won't smell you watching them," Felix countered, their pace slowing as they reached the border to the town of Forks, spotting the sign as they ran parallel to the main road.

While Felix lingered in the town, Demetri located the Cullen home, liberating several sets of clothes from the closets. He left the clothes in dry sections of the forest for Felix to find them and paused when he smelled the scent of another vampire, one he had not encountered before, only several days old. He thought about investigating the scent but shook it off, knowing that his mission was to observe the wolves. Felix could follow the vampire scent. Demetri took off in the direction of the local Indian reservation he located on a map on the place flight over and continued on until a moldy, foul stench entered his nose, reeking of wet dog. The dark haired vampire stopped briefly, a disgusted expression clouding his face as he resisted the impulse to breathe. It was an uncomfortable feeling for vampires, to block the natural desire to inhale air into their bodies, allowing it to move freely from their lungs as it traveled through the venom the way it used to travel through blood. It allowed for smoother movements and lightness in their normally granite-like bodies.

Moving past his discomfort, Demetri stopped breathing and continued to trek silently through the trees and the undergrowth. He pulled his dark cloak tighter to his body to help him blend in with the dense darkness of the forest. His feet stopped walking when he spotted enormous wolves in the wood just ahead of him. The vampire's instincts demanded that he flee or fight the threat, but he was more afraid of his mistress' displeasure than the beasts in front of him. He silently crept as close as he dared and scaled one of the sturdier trees, concealing himself behind think leaves and branches to observe the creatures.

The two wolves were circling each other, growling, clawing at the ground viciously, one a russet brown, almost copper color, the other a deep, dark black. Both wolves snarled at each other, neither making a move to attack until a brown charged in from the side, launching himself at the russet wolf. The smaller wolf buried his fangs and claws into the older wolf, which merely let out a loud snarl and started to claw at the other wolf.

Demetri watched in fascination as the black wolf joined the fray, dragging the smaller wolf off of the reddish wolf he had previously been facing, tearing his teeth and claws into the brown wolf. After several moments, the brown wolf stopped struggled on the ground and the sound of three heartbeats stuttered out, one of the beats slowing until it stopped completely. The remaining two nearly feral wolves growled at each other and looked ready to fight before a clouded look covered their eyes, and they started shaking their heads, stumbling away from each other like punch-drunk boxers.

The tracker watched the wolves move away from each other and the body of the fallen wolf, shedding their fur and taking on the appearance of large, native men at the very end of his line of sight. He waited for a few minutes before descending from his perch in the trees, swiftly running over to the deceased wolf. The stench was terrible, like rotten fruit had copulated with spoiled meat. He took in the large claw marks covering the wolf and the gaping bite marks that had ripped out his throat, causing the creature to choke on his own blood as he died. A red haze began to seep from the corpse and Demetri stumbled backwards.

Emerging from the haze, a ghostly wolf stood before him, blood dripping from its mouth, streaking its darkening fur. The ghostly wolf growled, fog wrapping around its form to create an even more frightening appearance. Demetri braced himself as he stared at the wraithlike figure, preparing to flee if necessary. The wolf merely continued to look at him, glowing crimson eyes studying him as it growled. Delicately the wolf scented the air, drawing closer to the vampire. It halted its advance, the growls ceasing as the eyes darted around Demetri's form, almost as if it were looking for something.

The wolf's head sharply turned to left, and Demetri could hear a faint, ragged heartbeat coming towards them. The ghostly wolf disappeared in a wisp and Demetri bolted backwards into the shadows of the dense wood. Another wolf appeared through the trees, this one with silver colored fur. He sniffed in disinterest at the body of the dead wolf in front of him before continuing on, his unsteady gait carrying him deeper into the trees.

Demetri followed him, deciding that it would be an opportunity to gain more information about these beasts for his Mistress. He trailed behind the wolf, and it soon became clear that he was heading further into the wolves' territory. The stench grew the more they walked, and Demetri continued to restrict his breathing. He watched as the wolf stalked along the edge of the forest, his wild eyes fixated on a teenage girl running along the side of the forest.

The vampire had to physically restrain himself when the wolf grabbed onto the girl and darted off quickly through the trees, the screams from the girl quieting quickly as massive teeth clenched tighter down around her. The scent of human blood was tainted by the overwhelming stench of rotted fur so Demetri was able to observe the wolf as he tore into the body deep in the woods without any desire to knock the beast away and indulge in the blood seeping from the body.

Ceasing his movements, the wolf shifted into a man and reached down, grasping the long brown hair of the dead girl, yanking it from her head. The black wolf from earlier burst through the trees, pausing at the sight of the man standing over the dead girl, hands clutching at a large clump of hair and scalp.

The haze that had covered the dark wolf's eyes was gone and his body bent and broke as the fur receded, leaving a large man in its place. "What the hell Paul?" He shouted at the other man, his form vibrating with fury. "We knew something was wrong with you, but never thought that you would stoop to murder, especially one of our own people."

"Not my 'people'," the other man growled, his voice dark and feral. "None of these two legged things are mine, not since what was mine was taken from me, ran from me, _escaped me._ " He hissed out the last few words. Demetri could see his yellow, wolf eyes glowing from where he was hidden.

"Not your peop- what the hell Paul, what the fuck is wrong with you?" The man yelled again, moving closer to shake the other man. "You murdered a human with too much precision for it to be your first kill. How many times have you done this?"

Demetri continued to watch as the one the other kept calling Paul let out a horrible snarl and kicked the other away from him, turning back into a wolf before darting off into the forest. The vampire chose not to follow the wolf, instead moving back into the trees and finding a place to settle until night fell and he could move around the land more freely.

Once night had fallen, Demetri darted all over the town, following the trails of the foul, wolf stench to various homes and buildings. Several of the scents were older, indicating that the creatures those scents belonged to were no longer around. He thought back to the way the wolves decimated one of their own, attacking him in almost a delirium or haze. He was only able to detect four scents, and one of them was from the corpse beginning to rot away in the forest. Only three wolves remained.

The vampire followed the scents to a single building, along with a few human scents. There were several heartbeats present in the building, none of them the fast paced rhythm that the wolves' hearts carried, but the wolf stench still hung in the air. _"This journal isn't telling us anything about why the wolves are behaving in such a cruel manner."_ A voice inside spoke and Demetri closed in, listening carefully.

 _"You don't think I don't know that Quil,"_ another voice growled. _"My son came to me earlier, terrified that he had killed one of his pack mates, worried that he was losing his mind. If something in this journal can help us…"_

 _"Billy the only thing translating this journal is doing is destroying all of our history, contradicting everything that we thought we knew about our forefathers! We can't make this journal known, we have to destroy it!"_

Demetri heard one of the humans let out a growl and sounds of papers, books and other items being thrown about before hitting the ground. One of the humans angrily opened the door and rolled out of the building and down a ramp, his wheelchair carrying him away where his human legs failed him. Another man hurried out after him, this one older than the first but able to walk on his own legs. _"Don't you think I don't know what you're feeling Billy, need I remind you that Quil, my only grandson, was killed as well? Translating that journal did not save him, I see no reason why we should continue."_

 _"It could save my son, it could save future wolves…"_ Their voices trailed off as they continued out of Demetri's range of hearing. He waited a few minutes until he was sure they wouldn't be returning and he crept into the building, locating the books and papers that he heard being tossed around. He grabbed the books and flipped through the papers, noting that some of them were translations of an old language. He gathered up what he could find and slipped out of the building, making his way back to the Cullen house.

The vampire read through the papers and leafed through the books, carefully placing the older, handwritten book aside as it was penned in a language he could not read. The papers he found contained translated sections of the book as well as other notes recording events with the wolves and tribe in the last few months. His eyes widened when he read what had been recorded and he immediately set the papers down and rushed out of the house in search of Felix.

"Felix," Demetri hissed, finding the larger vampire just outside of town close to daybreak sniffing at a vampire scent in the trees, the same one the tracker had smelt the day before.

"Demetri, we got a problem, this scent belongs to the Major, the one from the vampire wars years ago. I heard he joined the Cullen coven, and this scent is only a few days old. He must've come here looking for something before moving on, his trail goes south…"

"Felix," the other vampire hissed again, cataloguing the information on the Major for later. "Felix, I was on the reservation last night, tracking the wolves, and I found some information on them. We must call the Mistresses immediately, if they don't come quickly, the wolf problem will take care of itself and I don't want to have to explain it to Mistress Sulpicia that she missed her chance for revenge because they all went crazy." He grabbed his companion's arm and dragged him back to the Cullen house, "Please tell me you've found other things that we can tell the Mistresses."

Felix shrugged, "I found _her_ house with whom I'm guessing was her father banging some old chick, seduced some of the nurses in the hospital into telling me about the Cullens, basic stuff."

"It's something," Demetri sighed. "I really, really don't want to have my head removed again."

* * *

 **A/N:** Next chapter should be the one you've been waiting for, on Sulpicia, Bella and them with the wolves and getting answers.

Also, something else has been bothering me. I love the show Supergirl, love it. I love what she's doing for young girls, giving them somebody to look up to and a female led superhero show is very important for out culture, its 2016 guys, we should be all over this. Anyway, I've been snooping around on ao3 and there are a bunch of really good Supergirl ff writers, like really good. I kinda want to write a story, but I've got nothing, literally nothing. Now I don't expect you guys to solve this problem, just wanted to talk about it with somebody.

Send me funny/spooky stories, either PM me or leave them in the review.

 **Review please**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** I need to clarify something that I forgot, prior to last chapter, all of the scenes with different characters were happening at different times. So Felix smelling Jasper around the Cullen house and in Forks happened right after Esme sent him down there a few chapters previous to hunt out for clues about what happened to Bella. Obviously, he doesn't find anything. With this chapter, the different events line up concurrently.

Oh and I posted the Bella/Tanya story I was talking about. It's called Beyond the Forge, so check it out if you're interested. It won't be updated regularly, but more reviews would help me write it faster. More reviews would help me write everything faster, so keep that in mind.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: April 23rd, 2016**

 **Chapter 10**

"Didn't 'xpect ta see yer ass down her' again any time soon ya sonofabitch," Peter greeted Jasper when he spotted the vampire stepping out of the Porsche he was driving, the exposed skin glittering in the noonday sun.

Jasper grinned at his 'brother,' clapping him on the back when he reached him, "Good te see ya fucker, been a while."

Peter snorted, belting out a partial laugh, "A while? Ya callin' o'er twenty years a while? Ye finally cracked fucker." Jasper just chuckled and followed Peter back to the house, Charlotte greeting him with a hug and a slap as soon as he walked in the door.

"I deserved that," the golden-eyed vampire conceded, rubbing his jaw from where the strong-handed woman hit him.

"Ya did fucker," Charlotte grinned, her long curly hair bouncing around her shoulders as she walked.

"So why did ya come for a visit?" Peter asked as the three settled around the living room, bottles of beer in their hand. "Finally ditch the flat-ass wifey of yours?"

"That's my mate fucker," Jasper growled, downing a mouthful of beer. "I don't like ya talking trash about her."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Fine fine, but why are ya her' without her, didn't think she'd let you outta her sight?"

Jasper waved his empty hand, "She's in Austin poking around in the art galleries, who'd have thunk it that Texas would'ave one of the largest art centers in the country hmm?"

"Us, though we've always known Texas was the best," Peter grinned, sipping his beer. "Still doesn't tell us why ya her'."

"Fine fine, I wanted ta come and see ya Pete cuz I needed ya help with something, though I only tol' my wife that we were stopping her' for a few days before I take her on the shoppin' spree of her life in New York and Paris." Jasper grinned at that statement, "The only way she'd've let me come see ya fuckers."

Peter narrowed his eyes at the casual way his brother and sire mentioned his wife ordering him around, forbidding him from coming to see his family. "Looks like there's a crazy small medium at large wandering around in Austin then, thinkin' about all the art she's gonna buy ta match her shoes," he chuckled, taking another swig of his beer. "Now whatca need Major? What's with all the covert sneaking around?"

Jasper leaned back in his seat, continuing to sip at his beer as he thought about his answer. "I need help from ya gift Captain, I'm looking for someone."

Quiet warning bells started to sound in Peter's head but he pushed past them. "Who?"

"Edward lost his mate, a human. He told her about us and then lef' her cuz his prissy self was afraid of hur'ing her or somethin' like that, made the entire family leave as well. Ima not comfortable leaving a loose end like tha' runnin' around, especially if the Volturi hears, ya know since I'm already on thin ice with them cuz of the wars. I need ta find the girl an' bring her back ta the family, Edward is moping around, gettin' on our nerves." He let out a chuckle at that, "Esme asked me to look for the girl to make him feel better and to keep the Volturi out of our business."

The other two veterans of the Southern vampire wars felt shock entering their systems, but they quickly clamped down on it, having learned long ago to temper their emotions around their sire. The empath constantly used his gift to read emotions and find secrets, and they did not want that to happen in this instance. "Did ya go to where ya used to live?" Charlotte asked, keeping her tone light but curious.

Jasper scoffed, "Of course I did, but she nay there, hadn't been there in a while, maybe a month. Found she snooped around the house before leaving, but couldn't find a trace of her. Figure Peter could help me out."

"Is Alice helpin' ya look?"

"Naw," Jasper replied, shaking his head, "Esme wanted ta keep it quiet tha' I was lookin' for the girl. She and Alice were real friendly. And Edward could read it from Alice no problem, she never learned ta shield her mind from him. If he finds out about this before I get the girl back home, he'll just kick up a fuss and cause even bigger problems."

"I would love ta help, don't want ya in trouble fucker," Peter replied grinning, making sure to keep as much honesty and truthfulness in his voice as he could. "But ya know that my knower doesn't work like yur pixie person, can't just ask it stuff."

"I know that fucker, but I figured tha' I'd ask ya, and then if ya get somethin', you could tell me," the other man replied with a grin. "Now enough shop talk, catch me up with what y'all been doing."

The two vampires caught up their sire and coven leader with what they've been doing, careful to leave out any mention of their involvement in Bella's disappearance. Something about his story didn't make sense to Peter, but his knower was silent, almost as if it was trying to figure things out as well. After a few hours of talking and drinking, a vibrating sound came from Jasper's pocket. He pulled out his phone and flipped through his text messages. "Alice is done shopping," the older vampire said when he placed his phone back in his pocket, "She wants me to come back and help her with her purchases. This has been fun, but I have to go."

Peter stood up and clapped his sire on the back, "Try not to be such a stranger fucker, don't let a few decades pass before you come back ta see us."

Jasper smirked and punched his 'brother' in the shoulder and hugged Charlotte. "Will do, you'll let me know if yur little knower friend pings on our lost human?"

"Of course man, I don't want to bring the Volturi down on my favorite bunny munchers," Peter replied, a cocky smirk on his face. "Now why don't ya run along and get that flat butt wife of yurs."

"Lay off my wife fucker," Jasper rolled his eyes before climbing back in his car and speeding out of the driveway, spinning the tires slightly in the gravel as he left.

"Peter," Charlotte started but he put his finger to his lips and motioned her back into the house. She nodded her head and retreated inside the house to their bedroom, knowing that the intense soundproofing they installed in the room would protect their conversation.

Once the two got to their room, Peter backed his wife up against the door and claimed her mouth, cupping his hands under her butt to urge her to wrap her legs around his waist. "Peter," she whispered out between frantic kisses.

"Make the decision to fuck," Peter whispered, grinding against her, "Plan it out in your mind, it'll protect us from the pixie midget."

Charlotte nodded her head and clearly pictured the image in her mind, layering it over and over with previous moments and illusions of sex, fucking, making love, any name the act could be called. They had started utilizing this method years ago when they first met the rest of the Cullens, mainly the Small Medium and Edweenie, bothersome busybodies. By layering images and decisions to have sex in their minds, they could avoid both of their gifts. She nodded once she had completed her task and Peter gently put her down before sitting on the edge of their bed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"What is going on Peter, why is Jasper lookin' for Bella?" Charlotte asked, sitting next to her mate.

"I don't know," he muttered out, his hand dropping as he lifted his head up. "I don't know, and that annoys me because I'm not used to knowing."

The blonde woman was silent for a moment as a thought entered her mind. "Do you think we were wrong?" She questioned hesitantly, "Do you think we were wrong about Alice and Jasper? That we flipped the situation?"

Peter snorted, "No way, that Pixe midget is totally manipulative, do you see the way she dresses Jasper? Button ups with sweater vests, khakis and loafers, that's not our Major."

"Just because she manipulates Jasper into wearing what she wants and doing things for her doesn't mean that she's the one pulling the strings and whatever the fuck the Cullens are up to…"

"I know…"

Charlotte looked sadly at her mate, leaning against his shoulder to offer comfort, "What exactly did your gift tell you about the situation?"

"Not much really," Peter let out another sigh, "Just that the Cullens were up ta no good shit and the human, Bella needed ta get away. Said that not all of the Cullens were rotten apples though and I just assumed…"

"You just assumed that Jasper was good and that Alice was the problem," Charlotte finished, knowing his thought process. "Pete, I know he's our sire, our brother but… We don't really know him, only what he allows people to see. This doesn't mean that Alice isn't manipulative and bossy, just, just not as evil as we thought."

"We were wrong," Peter said after a few moments. "We need to find Bella, my knower last pinged on her heading to the Volturi, but I don't know after that. She could've been changed or killed, but we have to know for sure. She deserves to know that those fucking Cullens are looking for her."

"Have you gotten anymore information about this Genesis Project thing?"

"Nothing, just that those bunny munchers were involved and that Bella was being dragged into it." The male vampire cocked his head, his eyes taking a faraway look before he looked at Charlotte in alarm, "And apparently the Volturi were apart of it. The whole project, it started there."

The blonde stared at her mate before uttering the only words she could think of, "Well, shit."

* * *

"Get your ancient rear in gear Sulpicia, I'm not missing the chance to kill stuff just because you and your mate are in disagreement as to who wears the pants in your relationship," Athenodora yelled outside her sister's chambers, tapping her right foot impatiently as she waited.

Inside the room, Sulpicia's eye twitched as she heard her sister yelling but the defiant brunette in front of her took up the majority of her attention. "You're not going," Sulpicia gritted out, having lost patience for this argument several days ago.

"I'm going," Isabelle retorted, her crimson eyes glittering with anger. "You already basically implied that I could go when you kept talking about seeking answers and vengeance."

"I thought about it and it's too dangerous, you're barely over a month into this life and I don't want to put you in danger," the queen replied, trying to keep her voice calm. "The creature who trapped you in that perversion of a mating bond might still be running around and could actually try to kill you this time, or attempt to take you from me."

Isabelle scoffed, "Like you would let them, you're a queen damnit!" Sulpicia tamped down the urge to smile smugly at the faith her mate had in her, in her strength and power, especially when said mate glared at her with hostility. "I need answers Sulpicia, I need to know who I was so I can firmly shut the door on my human life and move on. I need to face this past that Demetri and Felix dug up and then move on with my life, with you."

Sulpicia's resolve deteriorated when faced with Isabelle's firm determination. She opened her mouth to respond to the girl when Athenodora started pounding at the door. "Let the girl come Cia, we have to go, and you know you wouldn't be able to focus if she remained in the castle anyway!"

The dark queen rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine, grab your cloak and let's be off. Time generally waits for royalty, but I feel in this matter it may just be working against us."

The two exited the room and were met with Sulpicia's impatient gaze. "Finally," she muttered, linking arms with the other two vampires and tugging them out towards the underground garage. "Caius and Heidi already went ahead of us to the airport to arrange everything. Afton is waiting for us in the garage in the limo to take us there as well."

Sulpicia was not surprised by Athenodora's enthusiasm and haste to get out of the castle and on the plane to America, but Isabelle was younger and ended up being dragged along beside the blonde. "She seems excited," Isabelle whispered to Sulpicia when they were finally allowed to sit next to each other after boarding the plane. They were situated in the private bedroom at the back of the plane while Athenodora and Caius were in the sitting area and Heidi was prepping the plane for takeoff.

"Excited, determined, insane, all interchangeable words," Sulpicia grumbled, wrapping an arm around her smaller mate and tugging the brunette into her.

"Why does she hate werewolves so much anyway?"

"That, precious, is a long story."

Isabelle shrugged and snuggled in closer to her mate, "I hear it's a long flight."

Sulpicia smirked and leaned close, her lips brushing the shell of her mate's ear. She spent the entire plane ride murmuring tales and stories to Isabelle, telling her of times long ago, of meeting Didyme and Athenodora, of the Romanians and Egyptians, of the Chinese and Russians, of the Yeti hidden in the Tibetan mountains and the dragons hibernating in the Siberian icecaps. The brunette closed her eyes and listened to her mate's words, her mind conjuring images of long forgotten times and creatures, ones that only exist in myth and legend, or the dark of night. The queen held her mate close as she spoke, distracting her from the roar of the engines and the feel of being high in her air with her words and soft touches. They stopped once briefly to refuel the plane, but nothing broke them out of their intimate yet innocent embrace.

"Stop canoodling you two," Athenodora yelled, pounding on the door to the private bedroom. "The plane is landing soon and we need to make a game plan on what we're going to do."

"I thought strategy was your and Caius's thing?" Sulpicia retorted, reluctantly releasing her mate and moving towards the door. She opened it and was greeted by her blonde sister's impatient gaze.

"Well if you had been paying attention to our conversation rather than spending the entire trip whispering sweet nothings into your mate's ear, then you would know what we've been planning," Dora retorted, retreating back into the cabin of the plane.

Sulpicia rolled her eyes and followed after her sister, pulling Isabelle along behind her. "So what is the plan?" The queen asked once the two of them were seated across from Caius and Dora.

"Find wolves, interrogate them, kill them, move on," Athenodora replied with finality in her tone.

"That's it? It took you guys the entire plan ride to come up with that?"

"Of course not, Caius and I spent most of the ride trying to figure out the best way to kill the wolves," the blonde scoffed, eyeing her sister like she was crazy. "We couldn't decide if we should choke them, smother them, roast them over a spit…"

"I liked the torturing them by ripping them apart piece by piece option," Caius interjected.

"Oh yes, I liked that one too…" The two blondes picked back up their discussion on death and torture methods while Sulpicia sighed and Isabelle leaned forward in fascination.

"Makes sense on why they're mates doesn't it?" The queen asked, one of her hands toying with her lover's hair.

Isabelle giggled and nodded before leaning back into Sulpicia's embrace, "They sure do know a lot of ways to torture and kill someone."

"It's an art they have perfect over the years," Sulpicia conceded as she felt the plane begin to descend towards the airport. Once Heidi had landed the plane and taxied to a stop, several airport employees and customs agents came out to meet them, going over what luggage they had and stamping their passports.

Felix drove up a few minutes later in the car he rented once he learned they were coming. Caius pulled him out of the car once he stopped in front of them. "We are going to run back, it'll be faster and I need to scout out the area myself to make sure it is secure. The ladies will be taking the car."

The large vampire nodded quickly, trying to keep down the fright he felt at the sight of the imposing vampire clutching at the collar of his shirt and _her_ wrapped tightly in his dark Mistress's arms. "Yes Master Caius, of course," he stuttered out slightly, breathing a sigh of relief when the guardmaster released him. "Mistress Sulpicia," he said, turning towards his queen, "I should tell you, I scented Jasper Cullen, formerly Major Japser Whitlock, here a few days before we arrived. His scent was all over town, it seemed as if he was looking for something." The 'someone' was left unsaid as his Queen's arms tightened around _her_ and her eyes narrowed. "Demetri tracked his scent back down to Portland Oregon where it mingled with another scent, possibly his mate before heading further south. They used human methods to travel so we couldn't track him any further."

"Hmm, it would seem dear Carlisle is having his changlings do his dirty work for him now," Sulpicia mused before waving Felix away. "Thank you, now go before my brother gets too antsy." The two male vampires disappeared and Athenodora climbed the driver's seat, shooing Heidi into the passenger's seat, claiming she didn't get many chances to drive. Sulpicia shook her head at her sister and pushed her mate into the back seat, settling herself into the car.

Isabelle focused her eyes outside of the car as the scenery around them went by at an alarming speed, her advanced eyesight catching objects and details humans could only dream of seeing. "Anything look familiar?" Sulpicia leaned over and asked her once they reached the town limit of Forks.

The brunette shook her head, her eyes never wavering from the trees and buildings careening past through her vision. "No, though I'm not sure if I want it to truthfully. Everything's bright and green but it seems…"

"Depressing?" The queen guessed, "This region of the country receives a lot of rain, so the atmosphere is mostly cloudy. Good for vampires, not as great for humans."

They continued on, driving quickly through the small town, leaving behind the buildings and turning down the partially overgrown driveway leading towards the Cullen home. Athenodora parked the car in front of the large, glass house and stepped out, Demetri appearing next to the car a few seconds later. "It's good you were able to see me and follow me here Mistress Athenodora," the Greek tracker said, nodding his head at his queens.

"Yeah yeah, my husband is out with Felix scouting around, and you're here, so I want you to tell us everything you know about these wolves," Dora ordered, narrowing her eyes at the guard member.

Demetri shifted his eyes from Athenodor to Sulpicia, briefly landing on Isabelle before averting his eyes. "From what we've gathered, there are three wolves left, we are unsure as to how many wolves there were originally as they've been killing themselves off, not sure why on that end either. The three wolves are Samuel Uley, a large black wolf, Jacob Black, a large reddish brown wolf, and Paul Lahote, a silver wolf." He hesitated slightly before continuing on, "We learned that the wolves have a mating habit, called imprinting, and that the silver wolf imprinted on one Isabelle Swan, whom he hated. He has since descended into madness, killing human girls with long brown hair and keeping it as a souvenir."

He flinched as the dark queen's eyes blackened and a growl rumbled from her chest. She flung her arm out and grabbed at the vampire in front of her, jerking him close so that his face was only inches from her own. "Where is he?" Sulpicia hissed out. Her hand brushed against the exposed skin of his neck and she took in everything he had seen and heard the past few days. She watched in disgust as the silver wolf ripped into a human corpse, displaying his brutish nature in the way he tore into the remains. Intrigued broke through the haze of angry and hatred in her mind when she heard the words of the two older native men.

"I want this book, this journal they were speaking of," Sulpicia said, releasing the guard member. Demetri stumbled slightly when the queen let him go, his attention never wavering from her wishes. "I want that wolf in front of me first though, I want his memories, access to his mind before I squeeze the life out of him."

"There, that's a good way to kill them," Athenodora agreed. "You take the silver one and Caius and I get the other two, deal?"

Felix ran up next to Demetri, an urgent look on his face. "My queens, you have to hurry, the two large wolves, the black one and the reddish one have started attacking each other and the silver wolf. If we don't hurry, they're going to destroy each other."

The fives vampires followed Felix back through the forest towards a clearing, the sound of snarling, clawing and snapping growing louder with each step they took. They broke through the edge of the clearing and saw three horse-sized wolves in the center, each one actively trying to kill the others. Caius appeared moments later, brining with him a gust of wind, blowing their scent over towards the beasts.

"Isabelle, I want you to stay here," Sulpicia ordered as the wolves paused and turned their attention to the seven vampires. "It's not that I don't trust you'll be able to handle yourself but…"

"But I'm still young and I've only just started learning to fight," Isabelle conceded, "I got it, go kick some furry ass."

Sulpicia smiled and she and Heidi took off, heading straight for the silver wolf while Caius and Athenodora went for the black wolf and Felix and Demetri for the red one. The dark queen focused on her target, a gleeful grin fighting its way onto her face as she caught sight of the anger filled golden eyes of the beast. The other two wolves had a dark haze covering their eyes, signifying that they weren't fully in control of themselves. But this wolf, her opponent, her prey, he was alert, he was focus, he would present a worthy challenge before she beat him into the ground.

The beast snarled and lunged, Sulpicia whirling away at the last second to barely miss the glistening fangs, giving her opportunity to grab one of his back legs. Using the wolf's momentum against him, she flung him in the opposite direction, creating a dusty cloud as the large weight hit the ground. She tilted her head slight as the fragments of memories she saw when she gripped him registered in her mind. They were disjointed, twisted, incomplete. It was almost as if she was viewing them through the eyes of a wild animal.

Sulpicia shook her head and refocused on her task, noticing that Heidi had wrenched the wolf out of the small crater he had created and tossed him back in her direction. She moved slightly out of the way and kicked out with her leg, sending him flying sideways and his body wriggled, trying to land up right. The queen smirked as she heard several ribs fracturing under the power of her kick and the labored breath of the wolf as he struggled to stand.

The wolf growled, his eyes narrowed before his head snapped to the side, spotting Isabelle waiting at the edge of the clearing. He snarled and launched himself towards the brunette vampire, a ferocious roar leaving his mouth. Sulpicia met him in the air, wrenching him back away from her mate by the tail, slamming him into the ground. Heidi flashed over and grabbed his back legs while the queen laid into him, rage filling her body at the creature dared to attempt to attack her mate. She was going to toy with him, let him think that he had a chance, but the moment he moved to go after her mate was the moment his fate was sealed.

She dodged his flailing claws and jaws, wrapping her arms around his neck, cutting off his oxygen supply. "I know you can understand me you filthy mongrel," Sulpicia hissed out. "She. IS. Mine! You had your chance and lost it, you will never have her again." The wolf struggled more with every word she said, his movements becoming sluggish due to lack of oxygen. "I thought about just killing you as a beast, stripping you of dignity to die like a man, but I want to look you in the eyes when I kill you, now change back," she growled, squeezing her arms even tighter around the creature's neck.

In a moment, she went from holding a large, flailing wolf to a large naked man, still thrashing around in her and Heidi's grip. Sulpicia glanced over and saw her sister, Cauis and her guards had subdued the other two wolves, picking up the naked humans and dropping them near where the dark queen was. "Are we going to interrogate and kill them, or are we just going to skip the talking and head right to the killing?" Athenodora asked, a wicked gleam present in her eyes.

Sulpicia rolled her eyes and stood up, motioning for Heidi to keep the man restrained and on his knees before her. Felix and Demetri moved to place the other two men before their queen. She frowned when she tightened her hand around the still slightly defiant man's neck, his memories still disjointed and erratic, as they were when he was in wolf form. She released him and moved onto the other two, finding it easier to view their memories in their unconscious state. She sneered when she grabbed hold of the russet wolf man, boy, Jacob Black. She saw the lust he held for her mate, her mate's human self Isabella Swan; lust and hatred. He lusted after her, craved her like one would crave after a new toy, trinket, and yet he hated her, hated that she wasn't his, hated that she preferred vampires over him, hated that she would never see him as anything but her friend.

The boy's memories were useful though, providing her with a timeline of Isabella's, Bella's life and knowledge of vampires, as well as more insight into what the beast, what Paul had done to her mate. He tortured her, used the imprint bond against her, pushing her for her existence as well as trying to mould and break her into something he deemed more suitable. It disgusted her.

She released the unconscious boy and filed away what she had learned about this imprinting, this perverted mating habit, from the two unconscious wolves for further contemplation at a later point. The queen turned her attention back to her only conscious captive, Heidi keeping a vice grip on his wrist to keep him in place. "You torture Bella, Isabelle," Sulpicia started, preferring the way her mate's new name sounded than her old one. "Punish her for something you caused, drive her away into my arms and you dare think that you can take her back." He growled out in response, salvia dripping from his mouth and his eyes a feral gold. Sulpicia's hand flashed out and clenched at the short hairs on top of his head, wrenching his head backwards with a sharp tug. "And then you kill humans, women who happened to look like Isabelle, and you still think you have the moral high ground, that you are somehow better than I? I am speaking to you Paul Lahote."

A dark chuckle escaped the man's lips. "Not Lahote, not Paul, he was weak, I am not."

Sulpicia eyed the creature in front of her, pieces clicking into place in her mind. "You're the wolf aren't you?"

He grinned, his mouth full of pointed, yellowed teeth. "Paul was weak, never fully in control of himself. He denied me what I wanted most," he turned his attention to the brunette vampire behind the queen, "to sink my fangs in her flesh and devour her, to feel her blood dripping down my throat while I took pleasure from her body in other ways. I craved it and he denied me, sinking himself into any harlot her could find."

"What did you do to him?" The queen asked, slightly fascinated by this supernatural case of split personality syndrome.

"He died," the man, beast stated proudly, "I killed him. When the imprint broke, it was meant to kill me, taking something as compensation for reject a _gift_ giving by our ancestors." The wolf sneered, "I sacrificed Paul's spirit instead, giving me free rein in this body as well as my natural form. Those women, those harlots, they've all been practice, training for what I want to do when I finally managed to locate my property, to remind her of her place before I devoured her in every way."

"I'm guessing you're the reason why your pack mates were killing each other," the queen mused, rage coiling in her stomach at the words of the creature in front of her.

He scoffed, "They're weak, that's why they were attacking each other. Some creature, a spirit or apparition was attacking their human minds, corrupting them, they deserved to die."

"And you, do you not think you deserve to die as well?"

"For what? I have done nothing that you monsters don't already do," he growled out, thrashing around a bit on the ground.

"Well unlike your kind," Sulpicia spat out, "We don't claim the moral high ground. You are going to die for what you did to my mate, what you thought about doing, and I can't stand the sight of your face." She released his head and raked her nails down his torso from neck to navel, smirking in satisfaction and the snarls of pain falling from his mouth and the blood coating her fingers. "I do have to thank you though," she murmured, getting closer to him as she placed her hand above where his heart beat rapidly in his chest. "If it wasn't for your, for Paul's actions, I wouldn't have found my mate. I would've had to wait even longer for her soul to be reborn in order to find her, so for that, I'll give you the quick death you don't deserve." She plunged her hand into his chest, ripping out his heart at the exact moment she snapped his neck with her other hand, watching in grim satisfaction as his body slumped to the ground.

The queen turned around and handed the heart in her hands to her mate. "For you my love," she smirked, taking in the expression of awe and lust on the younger vampire's face.

"That was so sexy," Isabelle murmured, taking the heart and crushing it in her hands. "You always give me the nicest things."

"Only the best for you my love," the queen whispered, sealing their lips together.

Athendora interrupted the two of them by unnecessarily clearing her throat. "Hate to break this up, but what do you want to do with these two?"

"You can kill them Dora, they don't know much more than what I took from them and if what that beast said is true, they'll continue trying to kill each other anyway."

The blonde queen gleefully skipped over to the unconscious bodies and snapped their necks, choosing speed and efficiency over amusement. "How are we supposed to get information on their species now? Or this imprinting thing? Or that spirit that was attacking them?" Caius groused but slightly amused by his mate's reaction.

"I believe I can help you there," another female's voice rang across the clearing as two unknown vampires scents drifted in their direction. The seven vampire's turned and spotted two female vampires at the edge of the clearing, the guard members rushing in front of their queens while Sulpicia held Isabelle close to her. The two women approached them slowly, and the dark queen was observing them closely as the walked. One had fair skin and long flaxen hair while the other had a darker skin tone and brown hair. Both had bright orange eyes and wore animal skins over cloth tunics and leathers.

"I didn't mean to startle you," the tan skinned woman said once they were in front of the group of vampires. "I have been keeping track of what has been going on here and I believe I can answer whatever questions you have."

"Who are you?" Sulpicia asked, her eyes shifting between the two. "I've never encountered you before, which is something as I'm one of the queens of the vampire world."

"We keep to ourselves," the blonde woman spoke, her voice carrying a thick accent. Her voice and manner pointed to a warrior, one who lived in relative solitude.

The brunette haired woman placed her hand on her companion's arm before looking back at the group. "I am Dyani, and this is my mate Aila. I know much about these wolves and what your mate went through because in my life, my human life, I was Taha Aki's third wife…"

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow, who saw that coming (I did) but I mean really, who would've thought that the third wife would show up (me, I knew). So all the wolves are dead, and next chapter we'll get some answers, and even more questions as some of these answers will lead to the other major plot point for this story.

 **Reviews keep me happy**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** I didn't think this chapter would get done, finals time period for me, but I literally wrote this entire thing yesterday, all of it. Anyway, I thought this was going to be a flashback chapter, but it fit better to write it more like a explanation or story being told. Less characters, less confusion for me to work through. And the review response from last chapter was awesome! I mean, I was already being blown away with how accepting people were of Beyond the Forge, even with its AUness, and then to have a bunch of reviews for this story as well, y'all are just awesome. Keep it up please, I love getting them, even just a line with a question or how much you like the story would be cool.

Oh and **Foox,** if you signed it I could've replied to you earlier, anyway, you're confusing the Amazon coven with the mythical Amazons, which is what I made Sulpicia. The mythical Amazons were a tribe of warrior women long time ago living in what is now modern day Greece. They would've been of Mediterranean or European descent so mostly olive or fair skin tone. The Amazon coven in South America got its name from the Amazon Rainforest/River, which was named in honor of the mythological women. So there isn't really a connection between them.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: April 30th, 2016**

 **Chapter 11**

"Who?" Athenodora asked, staring at the two vampires in suspicion.

Sulpicia shot her sister a look, telling her to shut up before walking closer to the two women. "From what I gathered from the legends of this land from these three," the queen said, pointing to the three bodies behind her. "You died centuries ago, and yet here you are in front of us. I'm curious to know your story." Sulpicia held out her hand, offering it to Dyani.

The brunette woman looked at it hesitantly before firming her spine and looking into the queen's eyes. "You are the memory gathering queen, the one who sees all with a touch." At Sulpicia's nod, Dyani continued, "I would rather speak my story before allowing you to see it, keeps everybody at the same level and you'll know what part of my memories to focus on."

"I'm assuming you'd only want me to focus on the relavent information then," Sulpicia stated, retracting her hand.

Dyani nodded, "My life as a vampire has not been all that interesting if that helps. I believe we should collect these bodies and gather the elders of this tribe, they should hear my story as well, one that they've been ignoring."

"There is the small fact that these elders are human," Athenodora started, hesitation and irritation in her voice.

"They are human, and aware of vampires, but they're also descended from supernatural creatures, and I believe that is an exception to the law?" Aila questioned, her eyes narrowing at the queens. "One of the laws you put in place."

The blonde queen narrowed her eyes at the vampire. "I don't like you," she said finally, glaring.

Sulpicia reached over and grabbed her sister to keep her from attacking the other vampire when then other blonde stuck her tongue out at the queen. "We'll help gather the humans," the dark queen sighed out. "I've assessed who they are from the wolves' memories. We'll need the Chief of the tribe, the Shaman, and apparently my mate's father is dating one of the elders and was brought in on their secrets, so we'll need him as well."

"You grab the main bunch and we will grab the rest of the elders," Dyani said, pointing between herself and Aila. "The tribal council hall should suffice for this."

The dark queen nodded and the two women disappeared back into the forest. "Felix, Demetri, will you go grab those two men you over heard, do not damage them. I will grab my mate's father and Caius can come with me to pick up the woman. Athenodora, Heidi, will you take Isabelle to tribal council hall and wait, you should be able to find it yes?"

"We'll just look for something all tribal council-ly," Dora muttered out, trooping off into the forest.

Isabelle frowned at Sulpicia, "I'd rather go with you…"

"I know precious, but I'd like to save you as a surprise for your human 'father,' and I use that term lightly as father wouldn't be the right name for him," Sulpicia growled, her anger festering at how dismissive the man was of his daughter.

The brunette studied her mate and nodded, glancing over to Heidi who took her hand and led her off into the forest after the blonde queen. Sulpicia watched them go for a few moments, part of her marveling at the relationship between her mate and one of her most loyal guard members. She and her sisters have often wondered if the woman would find a mate, given the seductive and overpowering nature of her gift. Marcus had informed her that even if Heidi found her mate, the bond would ever be as strong as the one the guard shared with Isabelle. Platonic soul mates he called them, both essential to the other's existence. Now knowing part of what her mate's human life was like, Sulpicia was glad that she was able to provide the girl with love, something that was lacking in her life.

She turned around an oriented herself, running off in direction of the small town, Caius not too far behind her. The queen quickly located the house she had seen in Jacob's memories, the one he frequented, mooning and drooling after her mate. The two vampires moved silently through the trees to the back of the house, listening quietly. They picked up faint sounds of grunts and moans, the heavy slap of sweat slicked skin as two bodies moved together. Caius scrunched up his nose in disgust, "Aren't these humans older?"

"Middle-aged," Sulpicia replied, also crinkling her nose when her sensitive olfactory sensors picked up the smell of the two humans. "Oh that's disgusting."

"How long are they going to be-" Caius started to ask when their hearing picked up the strangled moan of the man and the slapping sound stopped, one of the heart rates stilling to a resting heart rate. "What a weakling, not even bothering to satisfy his woman before getting himself off," the blonde man growled, "What a disgrace."

"Now would be a good time to grab them," the queen mused, heading quietly towards the house.

Caius followed her, grumbling, "I'm dumping a bucket of water on them first. If I have to smell the disgusting, sweaty scent of humans, it might as well be less than the 'just finish fucking' smell."

The man quietly retrieved a bucket, filling it with water before he dashed upstairs. Sulpicia waited downstairs, knowing that the humans would run, trying to get away. She was proven correct when a few moments after Caius went upstairs, she heard a splash, shrieks and blustering before a fumbling thumping sound came as two pairs of human feet rushed downstairs. She grinned as she caught sight of the mustached man and older woman from the memories. "Gotcha."

* * *

"So we're supposed to wait here until everyone returns," Isabelle mused, looking around the building curiously.

"According to my bossy sister yes," Dora groused. "Your mate is seriously bossy, and a major buzz kill."

Isabelle turned towards the blonde and tilted her head in confusion. "It's slang Isa," Heidi murmured, seeing the confusion on the brunette's face. "Mistress Athenodora likes to use it when she's irritated."

"You sure have gotten cheeky as of late Heidi," the queen growled, glaring back at the guard member. The mahogany haired vampire just smirked and the three continued to wait in the room, Athenodora snooping around, looking through files and objects in the building.

Dyani and Aila came through the doors carrying several of the Elders, Felix and Demetri following a few minutes later carting Billy and Old Quil who were grumbling and spouting off about being kidnapped by blood sucking leaches. Sulpicia and Caius came in smirking not too long later with a middle-aged man and woman yelling and screaming.

"We're not going to eat you so shut up," Athenodora growled when the humans were all settled into seats, each recoiling in terror from the gathered, red-eyed vampires.

Old Quil and Billy blustered and carried on while Charlie's eyes zeroed in on Isabelle, his eyes taking in her features, particularly her pale, white skin and blood red eyes. "You just had to run back to these leaches didn't you Isabella," Charlie sneered, gritting his teeth. "What did you do? Whore yourself out to the first vampires you could find?"

Before he could finish speaking, Sulpicia had his neck in her hands. "I would be careful with how you refer to my mate Charles Avery Swan," the queen hissed out. She smirked when she heard his heartbeat increase and saw his pupils dilate in fear at her knowing his full name. "We said we weren't going to eat you, we said nothing about not killing you." She took in the stench of urine with satisfaction before releasing the pitiful man and moving to stand next to her mate.

"We are here to speak with you calmly and get some answers. The answers we receive will determine what we do next," Sulpicia told the gathered humans, watching in amusement as they continued to shoot glances between the door and the vampires, as if waiting for something. "If you're waiting for your remaining wolves, you will be waiting a long time."

"Wha- How do you…" Billy started to sputter out before falling silent.

"Oh do shut up human, we killed them," Athenodora spat out. "And you should be grateful we put them out of their misery, on the verge of killing each other anyway."

"Yes and the one called Paul, he was already dead, his wolf took over his body apparently and went on a killing spree, killing women who resembled my mate," Sulpicia added, delighting in the expressions of shock on the humans' faces. "But as I said, we are here for answers that this woman" she said pointing towards Dyani, "said she could give us, all of us."

"And what makes you think you can instruct us bloodsucker?" Old Quil sneered.

"Do hush up," Dyani said, her voice laced with irritation. "Many of you in this room are descendants of mine, so I believe I have the right to gift you with wisdom due to ancestral rights of this tribe."

That shut the elders up. "What do you mean descendants of yours?" Billy asked hesitantly.

The woman rolled her eyes, "In my human life, I was the third wife to your last spirit warrior chief Taha Aki. My name was stricken from your records but I am Dyani the Third Wife."

"That's impossible," one of the other elders sputtered out while the rest were too shocked to say anything. "Our legends are clear, the Third Wife sacrificed herself to save Taha Aki from the female Cold One."

Aila snorted, "That's so not what happened and I should know, I was there."

"Not helping Aila," Dyani mentioned when noticing the disturbed faces of the elders, and guilty faces of Old Quil and Billy."

"Um, excuse me, Dyani, would you mind starting at the beginning for us not in the know please," Athenodora said, drawing the younger vampire's attention.

The woman looked from Athenodora to Sulpicia before nodding her head, "Of course my queens, but it might be easier to tell you my story if Aila tells you hers first."

Sulpicia waved her hand, bidding her to begin. "Please proceed then, and you humans, do be quite, you might learn something interesting."

The humans gulped and turned their attention to the blonde, orange-eyed vampire. "I am Aila, my brother Arto and I were born into a small Viking tribe early in the 9th century, twins, very rare for our village. Many of the men and women, the strongest of our tribe, would head out for pillaging for much of the year when they could, when weather and sea permitted. Arto and I were left behind, left to the care of others remaining in the village while our parents went on raids. I don't think my brother and I were sad when they left, not really, it was part of our culture, we were not raised with much affection."

The blonde woman's brows furrows and her eyes adopted a faraway expression. Dyani reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze. Aila smiled at her mate and continued with her story. "I had been betrothed as a teenager to an older man in his late 20s, a strong Viking. Before our marriage could take place, he was killed in a skirmish with Saxons, dying a warrior's death, gifting him right of passage to Valhalla. There weren't any other suitable men in the village, so I trained as a shield maiden, a warrior alongside my brother. I believe my parents were hoping to use me as a trade, bargaining agreement with a neighboring village, but I cannot be sure."

She stopped and took an unneeded breath before resuming. "My brother and I were nearly 30 annuals old. He had a wife and several little ones at home while I had been widowed again, still childless. It was one of the raids on the land known as Germania that altered our fates, our last raid. The battle was fierce, but we did not back down. My brother was a berserker, fierce, vengeful warrior wearing the skin of a great bear, he was magnificent in battle and I, while not aided by berserker rituals, fought just as hard and fierce alongside my brother. We grew weary, long raids and battles take their toll and my brother and I were both felled, injured but not killed."

"There was a blonde woman, moving among the fallen, a savageness to her movements, and wildness to her entirety. She stalked among the dead like a Valkyrie, feasting on the fallen. She bit both my brother and I. I had never felt such fire scorching through me, I thought for sure I was facing Loki's flames. What felt like an eternity later, I awoke, my eyes not falling on the shores of Valhalla as I imagined, but the same wretched battlefield I had been in. My brother was waking next to me, also not knowing what to make of what happened to us. His skin had paled; no longer the sun burnt color I was used to and his eyes and bright crimson red. We soon found we were like Nidhug, needing to suck the blood out of bodies, not only dead though. We took great pleasure in decimating those that had tried to kill us."

"Pretty sloppy work for someone to accidentally turn you," Athenodora's musing interrupted Aila's story, thought the woman just nodded at her words.

"Yes, the woman found us a short while later, word sparking demons decimating villages having reached her ears. Her name was Sasha, and she was not very old, only a few years into her vampire life she told us. She helped us, Arto and myself, explained what we were, what we could and couldn't do. My brother was saddened that he would be unable to return to his family but knowing that our fellow tribesmen would raise his children to be strong Vikings. Sasha stayed with us for two years before leaving, claiming she wanted to watch over her own family. We never much cared for her really, although she was our sire, she was weak."

"Sasha was a good woman," Sulpicia interjected, "Strong is some ways, but yes, as you say, she was weak in many more damning ways."

Aila nodded again, "My brother and I were left alone and spent many years wandering through the European and Asian continents. Eventually Arto said he wanted to cross the great ocean, see the land that our kinsmen had discovered." Aila looked down in shame, "I was not ready to leave our homelands, familiar territory. My brother, he told me that he was going, and to take my time until I was ready to join him. I was able to keep track of him through the bond we shared as twins, as siblings, which only grew stronger after we were changed. It was several years after he left, I had not worked up the courage to leave my homeland. I felt the bond I shared with him snap and break, leaving a gaping hole in my very being. At that moment, I knew my brother was dead." A devastated but murderous expression crossed her face, "But I knew I would not rest until I found what happened to my brother, found who killed him."

"And this is where I start with my part of the explanation," Dyani said, patting her mate on the shoulder. "Talking about this always makes Aila sad and angry, and it is true when they say you don't want to have an angry Viking on your hands."

Dyani looked from the human elders to the other vampires in the room, taking a breath before plowing on into her story. "When I was born into the tribe, our chief Taha Aki had already lived many years, although he looked no older than a man of 30. I had only 13 years when I met him the first time and my life was changed, he imprinted on me. He explained it to my parents that his wolf had chosen me to be his mate and had bound me to him. I became the chief's wife that night." An uncomfortable look crossed Dyani's face, "Though the wolf chose me, Aki released his wolf spirit, he said, so we could grow old together as two of his wives had already died. Being bound at such as young age was not unusual in my culture, but it does not mean that I was comfortable with it, or him."

"I learned much, being married to Taha Aki, I learned much about the wolf spirit and the truth about what it was," Dyani continued after a few moments. "He told the tribe that he had merged his spirit with the Great Wolf and used the wolf's body to defeat Utlapa. It was not a wolf that he forced his spirit on. I did not realize what it was until later, but he told me of encountering a ravage wolf-like beast in the forest. It walked on two legs, its mouth foaming as it ravaged animals, people without care or reservation. Taha Aki saw the power of the beast, the wildness and forced his spirit into the creature to tame it, give it a better life, a greater purpose."

"He merged his spirit into a Child of the Moon?" Athenodora growled out, "A Lycan?"

Dyani nodded, "Though I didn't realize that was what it was until later. The effect of Taha Aki's spirit on the creature transformed it into a full wolf, but a tinge of madness, of wildness was always there in the back of his mind, as well as his descendants. I believe you saw the result of the madness in the silver wolf." The other vampires nodded while the humans continued to pale the longer Dyani spoke.

"So this imprinting," Sulpicia started, "It was a perversion of the mating bond, similar to what Lycan do to those they choose as a mate."

"It could be," the Native vampire corrected.

"But how did you retain your memories after your change?" The dark queen asked, "Isabelle was imprinted on by that filth and she had lost all of her memories."

Dyani turned her attention to the brunette curled into the queen's side. "You remember nothing?"

"Vague feelings, flashes, sometimes words trigger things…" Isabelle replied.

"Mhm," the woman murmured thinking, "As I said, imprinting could be a perversion of a mating bond, used against the imprinted person as a way to control them or punish them. I believe that is what happened with you Isabelle, the silver wolf wanted to punish you, devour you and so used the imprint bond to weaken you, restricting your soul. It imposes the will of the wolf onto the imprint, to the point where they could lose themselves, which is what happened with you. When the imprint broke with your change, the backlash was enough to permanently damage your memories so rather than keep all of the damaged memories in your mind, the venom purged many of them. Not all I suspect, but most."

Isabelle tilted her head, her eyes unfocused as she took in Dyani's words. She was slightly upset that she wouldn't regain her memories, but took comfort in the fact some of them would be there. Charlie sneered at hearing that his daughter didn't remember her life and opened his mouth to make a crack about how useless and pathetic she had always been when Sulpicia shot him a murderous look and he chose to remain silent.

"Imprinting is very complex, more than I can describe. How it acts, behaves is unique to the wolf as it is related to their will and wishes. It's impossible to keep it from happening, but giving the truth to the wolves is better than letting them go in blind," Dyani said, glaring at the elders. "I know you had my journal, I wrote all of this down."

"It went against everything that we stand for!" Billy shouted, his face turning a sick shade of purple. "That journal, your journal, your story undermines all of our history!"  
"It's not really history if it's not the truth, just wonderfully crafted fiction," the Native woman retorted.

"There is more to the story is there not?" Sulpicia asked, sensing the impending meltdown of the humans listening. "Something tying your stories together."

Dyani looked apologetic, "I apologize my queen, I was sidetracked by the discussion on imprinting and Lycans. Aki quit shifting into a wolf after he imprinted on me, allowing him to age along with me. We were married several years and I had a few children when murmurings of women disappearing from the local Makah tribe. Quileute legend says that Aki sent his oldest sons to investigate the matter…"

"And when they didn't return, he sent Yaha Uta, your son, in search of his brothers," Old Quil said, rolling his eyes.

"My son? No, he was not my son. I was only 25 when all of this was happening, not old enough to have a son shifting yet. No Yaha Uta was the son of one of Taha Aki's concubines, and the whole story is much different than what the legends say." A dark look crossed Dyani's face before she continued, "Taha Wi, Aki's oldest son went and looked for the missing people from the Makah tribe, and it was more than just girls, a few men went missing as well. They found a strange scent and followed it even further North East. Taha Wi sent the rest of the wolves home and he continued to follow the scent, but never returned. No trace could be found of him and Aki mourned. A few more years passed, and the strange scent returned, but this time in the forest, not on the Makah reservation like legend says, no more people in this area disappeared. Yaha Uta and the other members of the pack followed the scent and found a large man wearing a bearskin, his skin hard as granite and his eyes a reddish-orange. They moved to attack him but they were intercepted by another wolf, Taha Wi. He had imprinted on the strange man and stayed with him, hunting humans in other regions but animals when near his home."

"Taha Wi believed that imprinting was beautiful and sacred, something to be cherished and was proud when he imprint. His brothers believed differently, and could not believe that he had imprinted on something so vile as a bloodsucker, a Cold One they called the man. The pack attacked, Taha Wi defended his mate admirably and the man fought with vigor but eventually they were taken down when Yaha Uta killed both his brother and the Cold One."

"A large, bearskin wearing man…" Isabelle murmured. She turned to Aila, "Your brother?"

"My brother, Arto," Aila nodded. "When I met Dyani, she told me that Yaha Uta and the remaining pack members changed the story so that 'shame' would not be brought on the legacy of Taha Aki with the unnatural coupling between their brother and my brother. To them, their brother Taha Wi was killed years earlier by the savage Cold Man, and nothing would change that story."

The blonde Viking let out a frustrated growl, "I wanted my revenge so I crossed the great ocean and followed where the bond dropped off in order to get my revenge, to find what had happened to my brother. I found them, this tribe, and only one wolf remained, Yaha Uta I later learned. He was erratic, wild, a dazed look in eyes, almost like a red haze covering them. He was covered in blood, mostly from the corpses of other wolves and people around him on the ground. His movements were like a drunkard as he lunged to attack me. I wrapped my arms around him and quickly snapped his neck."

"She brought the bodies back to us," Dyani continued. "There was great sorrow and fear but when I looked at her, looked at this fierce woman, this Cold One, I was not afraid. I felt as if I knew her, as if she knew me."

Aila nodded and smiled at her mate. "I knew she was mine when I saw her, but that man, her husband, he did not want to let her go, his grief and rage consumed him."

"No, she couldn't have been yours, she was an imprint, she belonged to our great chief," Billy sputtered out.

"I have to question that as well, I did not know Isabelle was my mate until after the change," Sulpicia added.

Dyani nodded, "But Isabelle's situation was different. Her soul was damaged due to the imprint, trapped; mine was not. Aki did not use the imprint against me, or tried to control me, he simply let it be. This allowed for my soul to have some freedom, freedom enough to know that while he considered me his, I was not, nor did I consider him mine. Aila though, I had been around the supernatural long enough to recognize why my heart practically leapt from my chest at the sight of her." The blonde woman squeezed her mate's hand and Dyani continued, "My husband knew as well, and that enraged him even further. He attacked Aila, calling his wolf spirit back to him, despite swearing on our wedding night never to do so again. His rage was aiding his strength, and I needed to do something, anything to prevent Aila from being killed, so I cut myself along my breastbone, just enough to distract him."

"It worked," Aila told them, "He faltered, I struck him down, barely stopping myself from killing him and I grabbed Dyani, biting her and changing her at that moment."

"I was disoriented when I awoke, but remembered everything, and I finished writing my story in my journal, leaving it where someone could find it. I guess Aki found it first, and locked it away. He changed the legends to suit his story, having my name stricken from the records but preserving a form of myself to taint our children's minds, to change the true history of our people."

Billy growled while Old Quil and the other elders sputtered and seethed. "The great Taha Aki would never do such things, how dare you tell such slander!" The chief yelled.

Dyani snorted, "I knew him better than you young one, I believe I have full rights to set the record straight."

"What happened to him, do you know?" Heidi asked, speaking for the first time at the meeting after absorbing the tale.

The native woman shook her head, "No, I know that he must have stuck around to finish raising the children we had together, but I don't know beyond that. I feel like he gave into the natural form of the wolf, returning to a Lycan state."

"Great, another fucking werewolf to hunt down," Athenodora clapped her hands with glee at the news. "I've been working on improving the design of my silver crossbow…"

Curious to see the tale herself, Sulpicia stretched out her hand towards Dyani and this time the woman took it, fully satisfied with telling her story. Memories flashed before her eyes, confirming all that Dyani had said. "Thank you," Sulpicia said, releasing the hand. "One thing I'm still curious about, Aila saw a haze covering the wolf's eyes, was it the same haze affecting the wolves here causing them to turn on each other?"

A sad and disgusted look crossed Dyani's face. "Yes, it was the same type of situation, but not the exact same. It occurs when a wolf has been slain unjustly by the pack. It happened with Taha Wi all those years ago and it happened again with this pack."

"A wolf slain unjustly?" Sue questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said, a wolf slain unjustly. I feel that this wolf is lingering here, despite all the wolves being dead already."

"Damn right I am," another voice said as a woman emerged from crimson smoke and fire.

Those in the room stared at woman in shock and apprehension while Isabelle stared at her with confusion in her eyes. "Leah?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Believe it or not, this entire thing has been planned since the beginning, with like one or two things changed as the story progressed. Imagine that right?

Oh, and one other thing, just random and kinda hypothetical. If you were a writer, and for the writers who read my stories I guess, and say you write a story, and then someone else writes a story as like a follow up to your story, or mentions something that happened in your story in their story, what would you do? This didn't happen to me btw, but a friend of mine. I'm pretty chill with it as long as people ask, but idk what I would do if someone did it and didn't ask, or used something of mine, like OCs and didn't ask, so I thought I would ask you guys and see what you would do.

 **Reviews keep me happy**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Guys, my week went to shit very quickly last week and it carried over to this week. As a result, I got stuck with this story and idk if I'll be able to get unstuck. I'm going to try, but it's kinda like baking a souffle, you guys bake one of those? The process is taxing, and it tastes delicious when you get done, but one wrong move, one wrong sound and the whole thing deflates like poof. Kinda the same for writing a story, one wrong event and you're just poof. I kept the general idea on where this chapter needed to go, but I wasn't sure how to wrap it up so i was just like eh whatever.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: May 14th, 2016**

 **Chapter 12**

"You know her?" Sulpicia asked when she turned to her mate, the brunette's eyes still fixed on the woman in the opposite corner of the room.

"I- I do know her," Isabelle replied slowly, hesitantly moving away from her mate to the woman still surrounded by smoke and fog. "I- We were friends weren't we?"

"Yeah Bells, we were friends," Leah answered, a smirk plastered to her face.

The brunette vampire tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought, "You helped me out, helped me get away…"

"I did."

"What happened? How did you die?" Isabelle asked.

"Leah didn't die, she ran away, that's, that's what they told me," Sue cried out, her face an ashen color after seeing her daughter appear out a plume of smoke and fire. "She didn't die…"

"Paul killed me," Leah explained, seeing the devasted look on her mother's face and the guilty expressions on Billy and Old Quil's faces. "He was angry when you disappeared, he could feel you leaving, getting further and further away and he was furious. He figured out that I was acting as a distraction, acting as a decoy. He attacked me in a rage for 'taking his property' or some such shit, and Sam, the alpha, let him kill me. Prevented the other wolves from talking about it, from interfering."

"He did what?!" Emily's voice rang out as she stomped into the room. "Why that little, if that snot-nosed pig for brains wasn't dead, I'd kill him myself, right after chemically castrating him of course."

"Emily Young!" Sue scolded, trying to work passed the fact that her daughter was dead, that her daughter was killed by young men she stood up for, helped, _admired._ "You do not talk about Sam Uley that way, he was your fiancé, your wolf."

"And how do you know he's dead?" Old Quil asked, suspicion lacing his voice.

"I felt the imprint break," Emily snapped out, glaring at the man. "It felt like a cloud was lifting off of my mind and I remembered everything that I did and said, everything held a completely different context." The young woman turned to the ghostly form of her cousin with tears in her eyes. "Leah, I never hated you, you know that, we were best friends growing up, sisters. I loved you, I never wanted to hurt you. Yes, I held some resentment for you in my heart but it never meant anything."

"Resentment?" Leah asked, her stony façade crumbling at the sight of her cousin's tears.

Emily sniffed, "Yeah, I mean, have you seen you? You are wickedly awesome and beautiful, smart, athletic, pretty much good at everything, and me? What am I good at? Muffins, cooking? Not really. I was jealous, but I never let it get in the way of our friendship, I never would have anyway… It's just, as soon as I met Sam, it seemed like all of the barriers I had on those negatives emotions fell and they intensified. I had no compunction about hurting you any more."

Leah reached out and hugged her cousin, "It's okay Em, I don't blame you, it was mostly Sam being a dick."

"This is touching, truly, but are we going to talk about how this Leah person appeared out of smoke and fire?" Athenodora asked, looking from the hugging women back to Dyani and Aila.

Sulpicia sighed, "Dora, sister, I love you but sometimes you're a real ass."

"I'm bored, I want to go home soon so that Caius and I can get in the training room and spar, then I will tie him to our bed and ravage his sex ass for at least a week, feed and then repeat the process," the blonde said, enjoying the disgusted look on the humans and the irritated look on her sister's face.

"Your language is atrocious as usual," Sulpicia rolled her eyes. "But my rude sister does bring up a good point. Leah dear, what are you?"

The woman released her cousin, pulling the brunette vampire in front of her in for a quick hug before letting her go as well. "I don't know," Leah replied, shrugging, "My last thoughts living were for Bella to avenge me, and then I woke up like this and I realized that I could avenge myself. Swan here had enough problems in her life and didn't need to worry about vengeance when I could take it for myself. Besides something in me felt like I had to do something, had to stop the wolves from what they were becoming."

"You're a Bloodwolf," Dyani said, gaining their attention.

"Bloodwolf?" Billy questioned.

Dyani tilted her head, "Similar to a hell-hound I suppose, it might be where those myths come from. You're basically immortal, and like the police of the shape-shifter world, much like the Volturi serve at the law and police of the vampire world. Bloodwolves keep shape-shifters in check and wipe them out when it appears they are a danger to others."

"So I'm immortal, like vampire immortal or…" Leah questioned.

The native vampire shook her head, "No, not quite like vampires. You can't be killed again, since you're basically a spirit that occasionally has a physical form. You can't have children, I'm not sure if you'll have a mate or not, I've only encountered one Bloodwolf in my life and that was Taha Wi. He explained to me what he was before moving on; he could have stayed, but he was saddened by the loss of Arto and departed for the afterlife to be with him."

"Didn't want kids or a mate to begin with, so no problem there," Leah snorted, the fire at her feet flaring up for a brief moment. "So I'm basically like the police for shape shifters hmm? I guess it makes sense, I felt something, ghost of feelings, impressions leading in different directions, I guess those were other shape shifters."

"There are a few tribes of skin-walkers in Africa and Australia," Sulpicia offered, "I knew of them long ago. They aren't wolves though, so we didn't bother them. We concern ourselves with wolves for fear of them being Children of the Moon."

"Which was a justified fear in this case," Athenodora pointed out, "Especially if this Taha Aki person forced his soul onto a Lycan, crazy beasts."

"But now the greater question is what do we do about this entire situation?" Caius questioned, looking at the humans in distain. "Can we wipe out the entire tribe to prevent more of these monsters from coming into existence?"

The elder humans started protesting while Emily stood calmly beside Leah and Bella, Isabelle, knowing that the situation would get worked out. Isabelle glanced over at her mate with a raised eyebrow, knowing that the dark queen wouldn't be able to order the extinction of a people because the cover up alone would be a nightmare. "Silence, all of you," Sulpicia bellowed out, irritation lacing her voice. "We can't wipe out an entire tribe. Well, we could, but we probably shouldn't."

"Too complicated trying to explain it away," Athenodora agreed. "But something must be done. Are there any others that have the capability of turning in this generation?"

"Most of the kids on the Rez could, but not without constant exposure to vampires, the blood from Taha Aki was only concentrated enough from the main branches Black, Aterra and Uley," Emily offered. "Though maybe Leah's brother Seth…"

"You leave my son out of this," Sue cried, glaring at the woman and glancing fearfully at the vampires. "Emily, how could you? You're his cousin!"

"Yeah, and you're my aunt, my family, and you still let that fucker mess with my head!" Emily yelled back, "You let me hurt Leah, my best friend in the entire world and you didn't give a damn, your own daughter!"

Sue scoffed, "You were all to willing to stab her in the back so get off your high horse Emily Young!"

"Me get off my high horse?! You've been flaunting yourself all over the Rez and Forks, fucking Charlie not even a year after your husband died. You didn't even bother to visit Seth to tell him that his father had died, you told him over the phone. And don't think I didn't see how you were pleased when the pack told you that Leah ran off. You don't give a damn about your kids Sue, so don't talk to be about high horses!"

"I do give a damn, why do you think I sent Seth away!" Sue cried out. Her eyes widened when she realized what she said and slapped a hand in front of her mouth, sitting back down next to Charlie.

"Young Seth is attending a private school in Arizona on a baseball scholarship," Billy murmured, staring at the wide-eyed woman. "Did you send him away so that he wouldn't phase?" When Sue didn't respond, Billy's anger grew. "Answer me damnit!"

"I sent him away so that you wouldn't find out that he wouldn't phase," Sue finally yelled.

"What do you mean he won't phase?" Old Quil demanded.

Sue sighed and glanced over at Charlie, "Seth isn't Harry's son; he's Charlie's. I didn't want everyone to find out that I've been sleeping with Charlie for years, almost the entirety of my marriage. Only pure luck that Leah wasn't Charlie's either."

The occupants of the room stared at the woman with a mixture of shock and amusement. "Great, my mother is a whore, fantastic," Leah spat out before turning back to the vampires. "So to answer your question, there aren't any other kids in danger of turning at present."

"Then we will leave it for now. Perhaps Leah or Dyani and Aila can keep an eye on them in the future," Sulpicia suggested, "Not to kill them, but to educate them. Though this imprinting thing sounds too dangerous and oppressive for us to allow to continue…"

"It doesn't have to be," Dyani suggested, "But you're right, there's too much chance that it'll be misused. There's a spell that can keep it from happening. We know a witch that lives up in the northern tundra region of Canada that can come down and cast it, interweave it with the tribal magic."

"Witches are rather reclusive so it's good that you know one," Athenodora commented. "More honorable than sorcerers but less irritating than mages, don't even get me started on wizards and warlocks."

"Is she being serious?" Emily whispered to her cousin.

Leah snorted, "Vampires, shapeshifters, bloodwolves, no problem, witches and other magic users are finally what gets you?"

"While your side commentary is amusing, may we focus on the issue at hand?" Sulpicia asked, shooting the two a disapproving look. The queen turned her attention to elders seated in front of her, "We said we wouldn't eat you and we won't, whether we kill you or not is up to you. We, the Volturi, will leave the management of the supernatural acts of this tribe to those more equipped to handling it, such as Leah, Dyani and Aila. Just know that we WILL step in if need, and your tribe won't survive if we do."

"I thought you say you couldn't wipe out our tribe?" Billy said weakly.

"No, I said that we probably shouldn't, not that it wasn't feasible, just more paperwork and care would have to be taken to blot your tribe out of existence," the dark queen said, a smirk growing on her face at the heightened smell of fear in the room.

"I don't feel like cleaning up a massacre right now," the blonde queen sighed as she turned to leave the building. "Keep tight lipped about the supernatural world except for those that need to know, blah blah blah, I'm bored with this. I'm leaving now."

Sulpicia rolled her eyes, "Going to war or dealing with some rogue vampires, she's the first one out the door, but working out logistics, business, any kind of paperwork, she disappears. I swear she took lessons from that Houdini jerk." She turned towards Felix, Demetri and Heidi, "Wrap things up here, take the humans back to their homes."

"This feels slightly dissatisfying," Caius grumbled as he followed his mate out of the building. Sulpicia rolled eyes at her brother's antics and held her hand out for her mate.

Isabelle reached out and took Sulpicia's hand, but turned back to the still ghostly looking Leah. "Can you tell me more about who I was before? Anything?" She asked, still torn between wanting to move on and desperately wanting answers.

Leah eyed the vampire in front of her, ignoring the murmured grumbling of the elders and the three guards escorted them out of the building and returned them to their homes. "I could," Leah admitted, "You had all of these boys in town and here on the Rez drooling over you, falling over themselves to date you, not because they liked you but because you were some shiny new toy. I thought you were pathetic really, devoid of all personality, perfectly content to allow things to happen to you, until the end of course. Bella, Isabelle, from what I can tell, you're way better now, mated to a vampire queen? Pretty badass. Human you, not badass, human you pretty lame, you're not lame."

"That man, Charlie? He was my father…" Isabelle said quietly after a few minutes. "I didn't remember him, not like some other things."

"He wasn't around enough to make a big impact on your life, too busy screwing my mother apparently," Leah scoffed. "Go live this new life Bells, as much as you can as a vampire. This chapter is done."

Isabelle nodded at the other woman's words, smiling at her, "Thank you Leah, for what you did before. I'm sorry that it got you into so much trouble."

"Nah, I'm good, I can spit fire and invade people's minds, driving them crazy," the bloodwolf boasted, flaring the flames at her feet out slightly. "Perhaps I can track down those Cullens and light a few of them on fire…"

"You knew the Cullens when they lived here then?" Sulpicia questioned.

Leah shrugged, "Knew of them, you see memories right? Well you probably saw Isabelle's history with them in his pea brain. They always weirded me out, but I didn't really know them know them."

Trying not to roll her eyes at the atrocious grammar, Sulpicia nodded at the younger woman's words, having already seen the Cullens, and the aftermath of them, in Jacob's memories. Just seeing more of the gaps that were in Victoria's memories filled in made her want to rip off the heads of every single Cullen, without any of the Genesis Project bullshit they might be involved in. "Did you say Cullen?" Aila asked, stepping into the conversation. At Leah's nod, the blonde vampire glanced over at her mate. "We know a Cullen, well we met someone called Cullen. Very strange, very fanatical."

"Carlisle Cullen?" Sulpicia asked dryly, knowing that the man had a habit of making a spectacle of himself and his preferred diet wherever he went. She thought drinking animal blood all the time was stupid and should only be used in emergencies, but she did respect the vampire's right to choose how to feed. Carlisle often tried to push his way of thinking onto others though and came off as a zealot.

"No," Aila replied, breaking Sulpicia from her thoughts, "It was a woman, caramel colored hair. Esme Cullen I believe. She saw our eyes, and got excited, questioning us about how we fed, before proceeding to lecture us about feeding on humans."

"She asked us a lot of questions, odd questions, invasive. We dodged around the answers as much as we could before she grew tired and we parted ways," Dyani said.

"What sort of questions?" The queen asked.

"Who we were, how old we were, who changed us, if we were mates, why we were mates, things like that, it was like she was fishing for information," Aila told her. "We are very private people so we didn't answer many of her questions."

A disconcerting feeling settled in the pit of Sulpicia's stomach as she thought about why Esme Cullen would be asking those questions, particularly if her family was involved in… "Cia," Isabelle's voice sounded, breaking the queen out of her thoughts.

"Yes, yes, we should probably be going," the dark queen said, turning her attention from her mate to Dyani and Aila. "It has been a pleasure meeting you both, wish it had been under different circumstances. I'm assuming you're going to continue keeping an eye on things here?"

"We're going to speak with our acquaintance about casting the spell to block imprinting and then head back to Norway for a while, but I usually do come check on things here every ten years or so. Unfortunately, everything that happened recently occurred at such a fast pace I didn't know what was going on until it was too late to stop it," Dyani said mournfully.

"Lessons for the future then," Sulpicia replied as her parting comments before she and Isabelle left the building and reservation. Heidi met up with them back at the Cullen house where they left the car.

"Mistress Athenodora and Master Caius said they were running back to Seattle to hunt while Felix and Demetri and heading back to get the plane ready," the mahogany haired guard said as she climbed into the driver's seat and started back towards Seattle.

The dark queen hummed. "You should probably feed as well precious," she said to Isabelle, slipping her fingers through long strands of brunette hair. "It's been a pretty rough day."

"And weird," the brunette added, pressing herself in closer to her mate. "And emotional, I can't wait to get home and leave this mess behind us."

Sulpicia murmured her agreements but her mind was preoccupied with what Aila had mentioned about Esme Cullen and her snooping. These thoughts occupied part of her mind for the entire trip back to Seattle and on their quick hunting trip before returning to Italy. The plane flight home though, her mind clicked off as she was consumed with more pleasurable thoughts and emotions as she shut herself and Isabelle into the private bedroom only to have her newborn mate pin her to the bed.

The flight wasn't long enough.

The plane landed and Afton and Chelsea were waiting to greet them. "Mistresses," Afton greeted once the queens had exited the planes. "We received guests a few hours ago and Mistress Didyme felt that it would be best if you were informed before you arrived."

"Guests?" Dora questioned, looking at the guard in irritation. He was interrupting her plans to get her mate in the training room and then tied up in their bedroom.

"The Captain and Lieutenant of the Southern Wars, Peter and Charlotte Whitaker, formerly Whitlock," Afton replied.

"Mhm, that's interesting, is that how they identified themselves?" Sulpicia asked.

Afton nodded and Athenodora let out a huff of air. "Caius and I are running back to Volterra, I don't really need to take part in this conversation, and I desperately need to battle, dominate and then fuck my mate." The blonde queen grabbed her mate and took off towards Volterra.

"And off she goes, why am I not surprised," Sulpicia rolled her eyes before looking back at Afton. "What did they say that they wanted?"

The guard looked hesitant before firming his spine, "They said that they wanted to speak to Isabelle Beaulieu."

Sulpicia's eyes narrowed, "They asked for my mate, by name, by her _new_ name?" Afton nodded and the queen's glared hardened. "Then I guess that it's time we talk with them isn't it?"

* * *

"Well, well, Captain Peter Whitaker and Lieutenant Charlotte Whitaker," Sulpicia greeted, lounging in her throne with a smirk etched on her face. Her mate was seated side ways on her lap, her head buried into her left shoulder and her legs placed over the arm of the throne. Didyme sat in her throne to her left, Marcus standing behind her and Athenodora sat in the throne to the right with Cauis next to her, an intimidating look on his face. The blonde queen was scowling in her seat because before she and Caius could get to the training room, Marcus had picked them up and brought them to the throne room because Sulpicia called ahead and said she wanted all of them to meet with Peter and Charlotte. "I didn't expect to ever see either of you here in Volterra of all places."

The two tore their eyes away from the brunette reclining in her lap and met her eyes, her smirk widening as she saw them gulp in fear. Charlotte nudged her mate forward and the man stepped forward. "Ah, er, Ma'am," he stuttered out, "A pressin', er, a pressing situation brought us here."

"I see your accent slips when out of the southern states," Didyme mused, observing the two.

"Habit," Charlotte replied when it seemed that her husband was too scared stiff to respond. "It slips away when we aren't around those who also speak with an accent."

"How quaint," Dora groused, "Now will you please tell us why you're here. Your visit has interrupted my plan to fuck my mate. If I don't get to tie him to my bed within the next few hours, I'm going to start ripping off limbs, your limbs."

Caius didn't even flinch at his wife's words, used to their sex life being broadcast to the entire world at any given occasion. The effect her words had on Peter was obvious though as he flinched and stepped forward slightly. "Yes, ah, yes, your majesties, I apologize, we've just been a little surprised is all. We, uh, we have information that we thought you might find interesting."

"If you have information, speak," Sulpicia said, "Keep in mind if you lie I will take the truth from you by force."

"Er, yes, um, first I should say that, eh, my mate and I, we're the ones that helped Isabelle change her identity," Peter started. "We left a note in the Cullen house with money in a bank account to help her wherever she wanted to go, along with a new identity and citizenship for Canada."

Sulpicia gave the two war veterans an assessing look while Isabelle sat up slightly from her position. "You gave me my name," she said, looking at the two. "Isabelle Beaulieu, that was you?"

"I picked it," Charlotte said, "We didn't want to change your first name too much, but your last name means 'beautiful place' or 'beautiful mountain.' I wanted you to know that you were leaving behind your old life for an even more beautiful one."

"How did you know about me?" Isabelle asked.

"I have a, er, a gift, but not really, more like a sense I guess, I know things, and I knew that you would need a new identity to get away from Forks, so we left it in a place where you would find it," Peter explained. "I didn't know that you would come here though, or that you…" The rest of the statement went unsaid, but the reference to Isabelle being Sulpicia's mate was clear in his body language.

"Whether you knew or not, I owe you a debt for helping my mate the way you have," Sulpicia said, inclining her head slightly. "She made the decision to come here, but you helped her the way you could." Peter and Charlotte nodded, both bowing slightly to the queen. "Now I know this information isn't the only reason you came here."

"No," Peter stated slowly. "No that's not the only thing. When we left Isabelle her new identity, we left her a letter…"

"Yes yes," Athenodora said, "We read the letter, get to the point."

"Dora," Didyme chided, "We weren't going to tell them that-"

"Sisters please," Sulpicia sighed. "Continue Whitaker." She took in both of the war veteran's shock faces and smirked slightly.

"Right, well, we left her a letter and we made some false assumptions that we have to correct," Charlotte continued when her mate froze again. "We assumed that the fortune teller, Alice Cullen, was involved in whatever awfulness the Cullens were, are, dealing with and that our sire Jasper was being manipulated by her. We were convinced of this-"

"Not we, I was convinced," Peter corrected. "After the war, I was so convinced that he wouldn't become involved in something like this again, but once he left, he became someone I didn't know. He's involved up in this up to his eyeballs and Alice knows nothing, well, probably nothing."

"Does your gift tell you what they're up to?" Didyme questioned.

Peter shook his head, "It didn't until we read the files Carlisle had, but even then I still don't know what game they're playing at, or even who is involved."

"How did you come to this revelation that your maker was rotten to the core?" Dora asked, a bored look still on his face.

"He came to visit, asked if my gift had alerted me of anything to do with a human the family had become attached to," he answered. "Something about her being Edward's mate and Esme sending him to check up on her, it was all very fishy."

"You said that Esme sent him?" Sulpicia clarified. The southerner looked at his mate before nodding at the queen. "Esme, how interesting." The queen murmured. She nudged her mate slightly, picking her up and placing her down in her throne before striding forward towards the pair. She stretched out her hand took first Charlotte then Peter's hands, watching their memories. She focused on the recent memory of one Major Jasper Whitlock, Cullen, one that happened only a few days prior. The queen released their hands a few seconds later and stood in front of them, one hand on her hip the other raised in a thinking pose as she lightly bruised her lips and chin. "I'm not surprised that Jasper is involved in this truthfully," she said finally, narrowing her eyes at Peter and Charlotte. "He did willingly, as a human, fight a war to make sure an entire group of humans were subjugated as nothing more than cattle." Peter and Charlotte winced, knowing that the woman's words were true and that they too were raised in a similar environment in the succeeding decades.

Sulpicia moved back to her throne, once again placing Isabelle in her lap. "The Cullens are involved in something known as the Genesis Project, the specifics of which will not be shared with you at present, but I know that your gift told you the project originated here, and it did."

"The entirety of the project was envisioned by my brother Aro," Didyme explained. "We were not aware of the entire project when it was enacted, but we quickly put a stop to it when we learned of it. We had thought that we had stamped out all trace of the project with his death but he must have spoken to someone about it. He must've had help, co-conspirators."

"And you think that the Cullens are co-conspirators?" Charlotte asked.

"We thought Carlisle at least, but your mentioning of Esme has me curious about something," Sulpicia murmured, a thoughtful look still etched on her face. "We need answers. I know that neither of you two are affiliated with the Volturi, but I'm going to ask you for a favor, both you and Liam and Siobhan, who are our guests."

The two glanced at each other before bowing again to the queens. "We need to make amends for our error, my queens," Peter stated. "We need to make amends for our sire, and therefore we are willing to aid you in whatever you need."

"We hold you not responsible for your sire's crimes, as one does not blame a child for their parents committing fraud," Sulpicia answered, waving away Peter's concerns. "We will need your neutrality though, as someone known to not being affiliated with us."

"Anything you need."

"Good, I'm going to need you to ask you to accompany several of our guards, and members of the Irish coven if they agree and pay a visit to someone. Close associates of Carlisle that I am very interested in having words with…"

* * *

 **A/N:** So thanks for everyone who responded to my hypothetical question. As what happened with my friend, she is now in communication with the author and they're writing stories together now. It was just a very odd situation. Like Story A would have two characters going out on a date, and Story B would reference the date from Story A but wouldn't dwell on it and it would be a completely different story. Not plagiarism but still odd. Anyway, she sorted it out so that's all that really matters in this instance.

Now, Saiyon has requested another Bella/Kate story from me since they're having inspiration problems, so I promised I would think about it. I have a few ideas, but idk if they'll go anywhere.

 **Reviews keep me happy**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** For fuck's sake ffnet! First you delete a chapter of my story (chapter 7 if you guys didn't notice) and then you delete the progress I've made on chapter 13. What the hell... Sigh, fortunately, I write the stories on Word and save them on google docs so I still had everything. I just needed to finish up the last little bit.

I'm posting this now, because I'm going out of town and I didn't want to make you guys wait, and then all that crap with what just happened and I'm like grr... Okay, so I know that it might seem like I'm making things up as I go, and some of it I kinda am, but most everything was preplanned before the story. I'm not having everybody be mated to everybody else in this story though like I normally do. Just as a change of pace I guess. There is one other surprise pairing that I have to get to, well, hopefully it'll be a surprise.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: May 26th, 2016**

 **Chapter 13**

"Should've know these fucking bunny munchers were the ones that Sulpicia wanted words with," Peter muttered as he, Charlotte, Siohban, Liam, Chelsea and Afton made their way through the Alaskan wilderness to Denali national park.

"Ya language is fucking atrocious," Liam snickered, having warmed considerably to the southern vampires since meeting them a few days prior.

"Speak for yur self you overgrown leprechaun."

Charlotte and Siobhan rolled their eyes and shot each other a knowing look. The two male vampires instantly hit it off when they met; both living rather secluded lives from other vampires with only women or their mates around, they latched onto male companionship and started forming a tight friendship. Siobhan was pleased with the changes in both Liam and Maggie while they were guests with the Volturi. Charlotte, however, was used to how her husband behaved with other men due to the rare occasion with Garrett or Randall would visit them.

Afton and Chelsea were walking in front of the other four with Afton muttering about civilians the whole time. Fortunately it was summer in Alaska so while it was dark, the snow had mostly cleared out. "Why does th' Queen want ta speak with this Alaskan coven anyway?" Siobhan asked. They immediately smelled the borders of marked territory and knew they were drawing closer to their target.

"They consider themselves cousins of the Cullens," Chelsea explained. "Mainly because of their diet of animal blood-"

"Disgusting," Liam said, both he and Peter making disgusted faces.

"- and because one of their members, a former guard member Eleazar befriended Carlisle during his brief stay in Volterra," Chelsea finished, glaring slightly at the two men. "Eleazar left the Volturi after he met his mate Carmen."

"So these vampires consider themselves, what, family?" The Irish woman asked.

"Supposedly," Afton replied. "Eleazar also has a gift that Mistress Sulpicia calls on, he is able to identify gifts of other vampires. I believe she wants him to look at Mistress Isabelle and decipher her gift."

"Which explains why we were sent and not Felix and Demetri," Chelsea mused. "They're still terrified of Isabelle. She really spooked them the first day they met her and then seeing what her gift did to Jane terrified them even more."

"Also knocked out Alec because he's been acting weird ever since the incident," Afton commented, "Caius has him running missions away from the castle almost constantly because she doesn't want him near her mate while he could potentially be unstable or holding a grudge."

"Isabelle fucked with Jane? What did she do to the little toe-licker?" Peter asked.

Afton and Chelsea glanced at each other warily before continuing ahead, Cheslea choosing to answer Peter, "We're not really sure, but it was awesome, frightening and horrible all at the same time."

"We're close to the house, almost within earshot," Afton said, "Everyone keep quiet."

The group quieted down and their feet took them closer to their destination. A large hunting lodge styled house was situated against the landscape as they broke through the trees. Their movement towards the house was not unheard, the nearly imperceptible brushing of feet against the ground alerted the inhabitants of the house and five vampires rushed out the door.

The Denalis eyed Peter, Charlotte, Liam and Siobhan with confusion, snarling slightly when they saw Chelsea and Afton at the front of the group. "Tanya," Chelsea greeted the coven leader first before turning to her former coven mate, "Eleazar."

"Chelsea, Afton," Eleazar greeted when Tanya refused to speak, eying the two Volturi members with distain.

"I'm not sure if you're familiar with Peter and Charlotte Whitaker, formerly Whitlock, and Liam and Siobhan of the Irish coven," Afton introduced, gesturing towards each vampire.

"We're familiar with them," Tanya finally spoke. "Though why they're with two members of the Volturi escapes us."

"We're here as neutral party members," Peter said. "Non-Volturi members that is."

Chelsea took control of the conversation again, "You're being summoned to Volterra. Mistress Sulpicia is in need of Eleazar's ability, and the rest of you are required to present yourselves before the queens due to your affiliation with the Cullen coven."

Irina scoffed, "The Volturi finally going after the Cullens then. What are you going to do, destroy the coven on false pretences and take Edward and Alice, bind them to your mistresses using your twisted gift Chelsea?"

"I would show some respect if I were ya," Siobhan said, narrowing her eyes at the five golden-eyed vampires. "The Volturi have been nothing but respectful since we've been visiting with them, and our youngest member is quickly becoming best friends with their newest member."

"You sure you haven't just been twisted into their ranks?" Kate asked, staring at Chelsea suspiciously.

Siobhan sneered at the question, "We're Irish. We've been used as slaves, oppressed and subjugated by higher powers. Believe me, we would know we were being manipulated in that way."

"We do not need the mind reader's gift," Afton added when the Denalis were stunned into silence at the Irish leader's words. "Not with Mistress Sulpicia's superior gift, and Mistress Athenodora's distinct method of torture to gain information when Sulpicia can't be bothered. We also have no desire for the future telling pixie, as her gift seems faulty anyway. No, you are coming to Volterra to be interviewed about the Cullens' crimes, to see if you are culpable in them."

"What crimes?" Tanya demanded.

"Let's start with exposing themselves to a human, and then abandoning said human for a start," Afton stated firmly. It was only a moment, but he could see brief flashes of realization and panic in their eyes. "It is no longer a request for you to come with us, but an order. We have a plane waiting in Anchorage, please collect what you need."

"And if we refuse to comply? Will you wipe us out too?" Irina sneered.

"It would seem that you believe we always travel with the intention of wiping out covens," Chelsea rolled her eyes, "Which we have never done."

"Don't you lie-" Irina had started to roar when Charlotte, tired of all the talking, launched herself at the blonde and took her to the ground.

"I'm tired of all the yapping," she hissed, her southern drawl pronounced as she growled at the Alaskan vampires. "Now just because we ain't part of the Volturi, doesn't mean that we won't force you if we have to. We're just as invested in this as they are."

"We're older than you, we can overpower you," Irina hissed, trying to push the smaller blonde off of her.

"Well darling, normally that would be true, but we've lived more in the hundred years we've been alive than you have in a thousand," Charlotte continued, pressing down on the woman. "Now just smile nicely, and come with us peacefully or we'll have problems."

The five members of the Denali coven looked cautiously at the two war veterans and the two members of the Volturi guard. Not knowing the skills of the Irish coven, they conceded to coming along with the group. They gathered what they needed from their house before following the ragtag group through the forest. Wary of the Volturi's intentions, Carmen sent a quick text to Esme informing them that the guard had come for them before surrendering their phones. It was a couple hours run to Anchorage where the Volturi jet was waiting, the group from Italy surrounding the Denali coven to make sure they didn't try to run away.

The flight to Italy was silent. Chelsea and Afton were in the cockpit while the other nine people sat quietly in the plane. The Denalis were glaring at the other four vampires as if they were traitors to the vampire race while Peter, Charlotte, Liam and Siobhan merely rolled their eyes at the childish nature of the vegetarian vampires. Felix and Demetri met them at the airport when Afton landed the plane.

"The mistresses are greatly looking forward to your visit," Felix intoned, greeting the group.

"Like we had a choice," Tanya scoffed as the pair ushered the group into the waiting limos.

"You ha' a choice," Siobhan said, "You ha' a choice to greet us with civility, and you chose hostility. We reacted as you did, with hostility."

"You listen here you leprechan bitch," Kate started, causing Siobhan to smirk. The Irish coven leader's expression infuriated Kate. Momentarily forgetting about the enclosed space, she lunged at the other woman only to be jerked back by her sisters.

"I know that they're irritating, but you don't want to be starting something in the car," Tanya hissed. "We don't want to cause a wreck."

Siobhan smirked again and crossed her legs, her mate remaining stoic next to her but internally was congratulating his wife. _That'll teach them for insulting the Irish_ , he thought, a brief moment of amusement flickering across his face.

The cars pulled into the underground garage after a trip mostly filled with silence and tense looks. The guard members quickly escorted the Deanli coven into the throne room where the three queens were waiting. "Welcome, guests, Sulpicia greeted, standing from her throne and stepping down the stairs to stand in front of the group. "Thank you for accepting our invitation to visit us."

"Of course Sulpicia," Tanya replied, manners overriding distain she felt for the vampire in front of her. "Though it was our impression, from the group you sent to our home, that it was an invitation we could not turn down."

"It was not one that would be wise for you to turn down," Sulpicia corrected. "And Tanya, later when we have concluded the business that you have been called here for, I would like to have a discussion with you and your sisters."

Irina and Kate tensed but Tanya waved them off, agreeing to the queen's request. "Excellent, now, first thing first, I'm not going to be touching you and taking memories from you, not without your consent as I've been told it's rude," the dark queen said, smirking as she spoke.

The members of the Denali coven looked at each other, wondering who would be daring enough to tell the queen of vampires that she was being rude. "Er, um, thank you Mistress Sulpicia," Eleazar responded, old habits from his days as a guard member kicking in. "But what is it that you want of us? You mentioned something about the Cullens and crimes they committed?"

"Yes yes, we will get to that, but this conversation might better be suited for my office, sisters?" Sulpicia questioned, looking to the other two.

"Yeah, sure, Caius is currently being punished anyway so I have a few hours to spare," the blonde queen said, flouncing out of the room.

"Why are you punishing your mate dear sister?" Didyme asked as they adjourned to meet in Sulpicia's office.

Athenodora scoffed, "The little piece of shit had the gall to get off before I said he could, so I'm punishing him. He's where he belongs, tied to the wall in our room dealing with some of the more… pleasurable inventions I've created over the years."

The four women of the Denali coven looked at each other in shock, not knowing how to deal with the blonde vampire queen as a secret dominatrix while Eleazar tried to block out the images being painted in his head, having heard many of the 'sessions' the woman had with her mate when he was a guard. Master Caius was always fiercer, stronger and more calculating, and far more relaxed than anyone had every seen him. It was frightening and traumatizing for the guard. The two used to use these 'sessions' as a way to prepare for battle or an execution, and Eleazar hoped that neither was the case as to why they were brought here.

The eight vampires settled into Sulpicia's study, the three blonde Denalis sitting on the couch, Eleazar and Carmen on the love seat and the three queens in chairs close to Sulpicia's desk. "First order of business," Sulpicia started, "I have someone I want you to meet and Eleazar I would like it if you could inform us as to what her gift is."

"Oh, a new guard member?" The man asked intrigued.

Didyme chuckled, "If Sulpicia has her way no. Our dear sister has finally found her mate and she has a most… unusual and frightening gift."

The five guests blinked in shock at the dark queen finding a mate, a female mate no less. "Uh, of course, um, congratulations my queen, um, where is your mate?" Carmen stuttered out.

At that question, Sulpicia sighed, "That is a good question." She stalked to the door and opened it, yelling out. "I'm not sure where my mate is but if she isn't returned to me soon, someone will be in trouble!"

A few minutes later, Maggie and Heidi dropped a giggling Isabelle off with the queen, themselves holding back giggles. The Denalis took in the brunette that was draped around the dark queen, noting that her behavior and realizing that she was a newborn, a young newborn. Eleazar's eyes widened when he got a good look at the queen's mate, analyzing her gift as information came to him. He stood up and fell backwards over the love seat in an attempt to get away from the girl.

"Now now Eleazar, no need to run away," Sulpicia snickered. "Heidi, would you come in here and help Eleazar back to his seat?" The statuesque brunette returned and helped the former guard member to his seat, holding him down when he seemed ready to bolt again.

"Zar," Carmen said, gently resting her hand on her mate's knee, only to jerk it back when he flinched. "Zar what's wrong?"

"I'm guessing his gift told him some interesting things about our dear Isabelle," Didyme murmured, leaning forward in her seat. "Do tell."

Isabelle sat herself sideways in Sulpicia's lap and stared at the newcomers curiously, taking in the terrified expression on the man's face. Eleazar gulped but calmed slightly when taking in the curious red eyes of the brunette. "She," he started, his mouth suddenly dry, "she has two gifts, unusual for a vampire."

"I've had an unusual life apparently," Isabelle stated, her quiet easygoing tone setting the Denalis at ease.

"Her, your first gift," Eleazar spoke again, choosing to speak directly to Isabelle rather than the queens. "Your first gift is a shield. Nothing too extraordinary on that front, it protects your mind from mental based powers. With some practice you might be able to control it more, raise and lower it, maybe even spread it over others. It is your second gift that is frightening and is what startled me."

"Stop being coy, out with it man," Athenodora yelled. "We've seen what she does, we just want to know what it is."

Eleazar shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes darting around the room. "Um, the gift is called Void, and that is the best way to describe it. It's almost like you can manipulate personal energy, the soul, attacking it and… voiding it out for a period of time. You have the power to keep someone hostage, not by restricting their movements or their body but by keeping their soul hostage. It's not permanent and it doesn't last, but it can change things, especially those weak in spirit."

The room sat stunned at Eleazar's revelation, Isabelle most of all. "So…" she started, unsure what to say, "So I control these people?"

"With practice you might be able to," Eleazar conceded, "but the main focus of your gift is that while people are under it, they cease to exist. They are voided, no feeling, no pain, nothing, just empty."

"This explains what happened with Jane," Sulpicia murmured. "She was always weak, despite her constant bravado. Now at least we don't have to put up with her attitude."

"So does that mean that Victoria had a stronger spirit?" Didyme questioned, "Isabelle kept her under her gift as well."

Sulpicia thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No, her soul has already been damaged by the death of her mate, not much more could be done to it. Death or being forcefully bonded to someone through the means of Chelsea's gift are the only options left for her."

"And she won't choose death until she gets proper revenge for the death of her mate, no matter how justified it was," Athenodora pointed out. "Not sure what the Cullens were thinking, killing one of a mated pair, but of course we already knew they were stupid."

"Excuse me," Tanya interrupted the queens, tired of being talked around, "But is that why we're here? Because Carlisle and his brood killed someone?"

"No, but that is another level of stupid we can attach to that bunch," the blonde queen sneered. "No, you were called here because we need answers and you are the coven that is the closest in affiliation with them."

"And why should we give you answers?" Kate sneered, "You'll just stroll in, enforcing your laws on others without a care of the damage you do or who gets hurt in the aftermath. What gives you the right to do as you please?!"

Isabelle growled and focused her blackened eyes on the hotheaded blonde, a shadow rushing from her towards the other vampire, knocking her out of her chair and sinking into her form. Purple arcs of electricity crackled along Kate's body and her black eyes stared blankly into the room, her form unmoving on the ground.

"That wasn't very nice my precious," Sulpicia purred in her mate's ear before addressing Tanya. "I would've thought that someone as old as you are Tanya, that you would know better than to provoke a newborn, especially one with such a volatile gift."

"She's not a newborn, she's a monster," Irina hissed, glaring at the brunette.

"That's a good way to get yourself a trip to the dungeons girl," Sulpicia bit out.

"Sister," Didyme said, reaching over to touch the dark haired woman. "There is no need for such actions."

"She's right," Kate's voice said as she came to, groaning as she sat up. "I'm fine, it's fine, I shouldn't have mouthed off with an emotional newborn in the room. I know better. She obviously didn't want to hurt me, just teach me a lesson." The woman turned to the brunette sitting in the dark queen's lap, warily taking in the darkened red eyes of the newborn. "I apologize," the blonde said, sitting back on the couch.

"You're apologizing to her?" Irina sounded appalled.

Kate rolled her eyes at her sister, "I was in the wrong, insulting her mate, her coven, knowing that she's a newborn with unstable emotions and a very dangerous gift." She held up her hands, a slight crackle of electricity racing from her palms to fingers. "Surely you remember what I was like after Sasha changed me?"

Both Tanya and Irina grimaced at the memories. "You were pretty awful for a while," Tanya agreed, "But what about Sasha? How would she feel about us cooperating with the Volturi?"

"What does Sasha have to do with this?" Didyme asked.

Isabelle looked thoughtful at the mention of that name. "Didn't Ayla say that her sire's name was Sasha?" She asked her mate, shocking the three blondes once more.

"Yes, I believe these three have a grievance they want to level against us, but now is not the time," Sulpicia said, leveling a glare at the Denali coven. "You were brought here for a reason, that reason being answering for your culpability in the Cullen coven's crimes. The first crime leveled against them is informing a human about our existence and neither changing her nor killing her." The queen spotted it. It was brief but there, the look of realizing, fear and anger flashing through all five pairs of eyes before fading into ignorance. "So all of you did know about the Cullens involvement with one Isabella Swan," she stated, her tone brokering no room for disagreement.

The vegetarian vampires all looked at each other before Tanya rolled her eyes and turned towards the queens again. "We did not know 'officially.' Edward came to us well over a year ago, raving about some demon sent from hell to torture him. Eleazar deduced that the moron had met his singer and was having to choose between draining the girl or being tortured by her smell." The strawberry blonde gestured towards Eleazar, "This one mentioned about having encountered one vampire that changed his singer, neglecting to mention it was accidental, and that seemed to convince Edward that his human was his mate and he ran back to Washington."

Kate snorted, "Probably to convince her to stay away from him, the poor tortured, tragic monster."

"Anyway," Tanya started again, slapping her hand over her sister's mouth, "Carlisle and Esme visited with us briefly last September, and they mentioned something about Edward having some trouble with the girl. They left a few days later and we didn't think anything of it. We didn't know that they had left the girl or we would have come down and taken care of her ourselves."

"Is that what's wrong?" Irina asked, "This Isabella Swan causing problems? Because we'll go take care of her right now if it means you'll leave us alone."

"No need for that," Sulpicia smirked, gesturing towards the brunette in her arms. "This is Isabella Swan, or was, she goes by Isabelle Beaulieu now, or Isabelle Volturi. She is my mate, not that little boy's."

Once hearing that information, the Denalis eyed the girl more critically, assessing her features and her proximity. Tanya especially studied the girl, wondering what it was about her that drew Edward to her since she had been trying to get him for years. "The girl is a vampire now, your mate, so what crime has been done?" Carmen asked.

Sulpicia moved Isabelle slightly off her lap, setting her down in her chair to move around and stand in front of her desk, her tall frame striking an imposing shadow over the seated vampires. "Their crimes? Alright, despite Isabelle's current status as a vampire, they are still responsible for exposing her to our world and not changing or killing her. This law was set in place to protect not only vampires, but humans as well. Why do I say this? Because in the course of their relationship with her, the Cullens exposed her to three very dangerous newborns, one of them a sadistic tracker. This man took interest in her and hunted her, injuring Isabelle in the process because the Cullens did a piss poor job of keeping her safe, amazing because they were at 7 against 3 odds. They then killed this tracker without bothering to kill his mate, prompting her to seek revenge against the one she blames for her mate's death. Not breaking up a mated pair is another of our laws if you don't recall," Sulpicia growled, eyes flashing. "You kill one, you kill the other or they torture everyone around them until they too die."

She started circling around the group as she spoke, her eyes never leaving them. "Crimes, you say, what crimes have them committed? On top of all of this stupidity, we discovered that they are involved in something far more than just being idiotic and careless." Sulpicia stopped in front of them again so she could watch their expressions. "Tell me, have you heard of the Geneis Project?"

The sisters looked at her blankly but she saw it again, a flash of recognition in Carmen and Eleazar's eyes. She turned to her former guard member and sneered, "I should've known you would know about it, since you were here when that piece of filth was here as well, but I didn't think you were stupid enough to tell your mate about it."

Eleazar trembled in his seat as he looked between his mate and the furious queen in front of him. "No no my Queen, I didn't tell her anything," he stuttered out.

"Then why did she recognized what it was when I asked?" Sulpicia questioned, turning her dark eyes towards the olive skinned woman.

Carmen shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her instincts to fear the stronger predator were kicking in and telling her to run. Taking a deep, shaking breath, Carmen spoke. "I… I heard… When Esme and Carlisle came to visit us months ago… I heard them talking. Esme was raving about something not working, about wasting all of this time for an ungrateful brat, of ruining their plans… She sounded furious… It was…" Carmen took a deep breath, remembering how odd it was to hear the normally calm, serene woman sound so vicious, so cold. "Carlisle was trying to calm her as best he could, and he mentioned something about still having enough data for the Genesis Project to go forward and that all they had to do was send their files to the others." The woman stopped for a moment, "I left soon after because I didn't want them to know that I was there."

"This proves our theory Sulpicia that they are working with someone," Didme murmured. "And that this someone, or someones, is reviving the Genesis Project. That notebook Isabelle brought with her is all the evidence we need to prove that Carlisle and Esme are apart of it, and Peter and Charlotte's testimony can prove Jasper's involvement as well. They were using Isabelle to collect data as part of the mate clause."

"And if they were just using her to collect data, I have no doubts that they would've killed her when she proved no longer useful," Athenodora added. "They have Edward as their constant with different women as their variables. It did say that they arranged for James to kill her, until they had to cover their tracks and kill him instead."

"Wait, what clause, what notebook, what are you talking about?" Tanya demanded. "What is this Genesis Project?"

Sulpicia glanced back over to the women, "The Genesis Project is on a need to know basis right now, and no Eleazar, you can't tell them. You five are to be kept here in the castle until further notice as we attempt to track the Cullen coven." Carmen gulped in fear at that and the dark queen focused on her. "Something that you'd like to mention?"

"I may have texted Esme before the guard took our phones, mentioning that you were looking for them," the Hispanic woman said, a terrified expression on her face.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Athenodora yelled, throwing her hands up. "Can you lot be any more stupid?" She stood up in an angry huff. "I'm going back to my room, hopefully by now Caius will be in a mood to help me work out my frustrations."

Didyme and Sulpicia watched their sister storm out before turning their attention to the Denali coven. "That was a pretty foolish move, but we'll let it go for now since you didn't know," Didyme told Carmen. "Though it does put us in an difficult position as means that they have most likely gone underground or have met back up with whomever they're working with."

Sulpicia sighed and returned to her seat, cuddling her mate back to her. "This just made our job more difficult," she groused, pressing her nose into her mate's neck, inhaling to calm herself before looking back at them. "Now to return to those other matters, I am very curious to know what grudge you carry against the Volturi."

Tanya shook herself out of her shocked state at hearing what her dear friends' were involved in. "You know very well why we don't like the Volturi and are reluctant to come here," she said tactfully.

"I'm afraid we don't so illuminate us," Didyme replied dryly.

Irina hissed, "You ordered your guard to visit us and kill our sire."

The two queens looked at each other and Isabelle glanced up at her mate curiously. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Sulpicia commented, shaking her head.

"What?" Kate gasped.

"Ladies, the only interaction we've had with Sasha is allowing her to leave here after her newborn period," Sulpicia told them. "Why would I kill one of my own changlings?"

"What?!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Does anyone know what the plural for Denali is? It can be Denali's since that's possessive. I've been using Denalis, but that kinda looks weird.

 **Review please**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Who else likes dominatrix Athenodora? Isn't she super fun? I decided on her character when I was developing this story and I was like I wonder what kind of stuff she's going to get up to? Tehehehe, super funny.

Also I've been working on random Supergirl stories, haven't published them yet, so I've slowed down on this one. Doesn't seem like much is left on this story anyway, but what is left is proving difficult to write.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: June 11th 2016**

 **Chapter 14**

"One of… one of your changelings?" Tanya gasped out while her sisters gapped at the woman, trying to process what was just told to them.

Sulpicia sighed and glanced over at her sister, "I think I'm going to have to talk to them alone."

The other brunette nodded and stood up, gesturing for Eleazar and Carmen to follow her. "Come with me, Marcus has created new compositions since you last were here and I'm sure he'll be delighted to play some for you."

"Of course my Queen, we will be delighted to listen to some of Lord Marcus's compositions," Eleazar replied quickly, wanting to get away from the conversation that was sure to come.

The three left the room and Isabelle looked back at her mate. "You want me to leave as well?"

"While I would love nothing more than to keep you here precious, I feel like I interrupted something you were doing with Maggie and Heidi," Sulpicia said, brushing a kiss on her temple before waving her off out the door. Isabelle darted to the door and found Maggie and Heidi waiting for her outside the room. The brunette glanced back at her mate and sent a glare at the three women still sitting shocked on the couch, dashing out the door to follow her friends.

Sulpicia sighed again, feeling the bond that connected herself to her mate lengthen as the girl disappeared into the vast halls of the castle. She moved around her desk and seated herself in one of the chairs facing the three sisters. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"You," Tanya started, "You turned Sasha? She was my biological aunt, a few times back, but how, why did you change her?"

The queen sighed at those words and slumped back in her chair slightly, combing her fingers through her own hair. "That is… complex. It was over 1,000 years ago, I was bored and irritated with… certain people. We received word of a wild nomad roaming in the northern Germanic tribes and Russian territories so rather than sending the guard out, I went and tracked him myself. I tracked the damage he left in his wake until I located what remained of your aunt's… of Sasha's village." A faraway look entered Sulpicia's eyes as she thought back to that time. "I searched through the wreckage, almost everyone in the village was dead, either drained or had their throats ripped out. I found Sasha there; she still had a heartbeat, he hadn't drained her completely but left behind enough venom to change her eventually if she survived. I thought about snapping her neck to put her out of her misery, but something changed my mind and I pumped my venom into her instead. I caught the nomad a few miles away and killed him before taking Sasha back to Volterra."

"Why did you choose to change her?" Tanya asked.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps I felt that something had to come from all of the destruction," Sulpicia murmured, waving her hand slightly. "Sasha remained here for a few years, but like everyone who come to Volterra, except prisoners of course, she was free to leave at any time and she did. When I was in America recently, I learned of Sasha's first changelings, Aila and her brother Artu. Sasha abandoned them soon after their newborn year I'm assuming to watch over you and your family."

"We have a brother and another sister?" Irina muttered, a surprised look on her face.

"Just a sister, her brother was slain years ago," Sulpicia murmured, watching as grief crossed their faces, grief for a brother they had never know. "Aila and her mate Dyani are interesting people though. I believe they normally reside in Aila's home country of Norway, but occasionally they live in North America. Perhaps you will meet them at some point."

"None of this explains what happened to our mother though," Kate interrupted, though her mind was still whirling with this new information.

"You mentioned that I had killed her," Sulpicia recalled, "What did you mean?"

Tanya sighed and her eyes drifted towards the ground. "It was hundreds of years ago, Sasha's heart grew restless, desiring a child of her own. She dearly wanted a child, craved it with all of her being. So she took one from a nearby village and turned him. The boy, Vasili, was adorable, but monstrous. He completely destroyed the village, taking great glee in his uncontrollable thirst." A vague recollection crossed Sulpicia's mind, like she had heard something like this before, but surely she would remember if her changeling had been stupid enough to create and immortal child. A sharp pressure hit the inside of her forehead the more she continued to think about it, and that really disturbed her.

"Sasha kept him hidden from us, so we didn't know that she had created such a creature until… until _he_ showed up," Irina bit out, her eyes dark and angry.

"He who?"

"Aro, your former husband," Tanya said, causing Sulpicia to hiss. "He showed up with a few of your guard, Jane, Alec and a few others, though we didn't really look at them. He said that you, the Volturi, had received word about the creation caused by an immortal child and the desctruction caused by the child. Sasha walked out with Vasili in her arms, blood still covering his face. Before we could do anything, Aro was having them both ripped apart in front of us."

"I-" the pounding in Sulpicia's head grew even stronger, "I don't recall any of this. He knew that Sasha was my changeling, she wouldn't have been executed for that crime, imprisoned, punished yes, but not executed."

"Sulpicia," the Denali leader started, getting up from the seat and walking over to the other woman. "What's wrong?"

"My head," the queen gasped out, "There's an intense pressure pounding in my head." The pressure continued to pound in her head, until the pain became too much and she blacked out. The last things she saw before losing consciousness was three pairs of worried golden eyes.

* * *

Isabelle clutched at her chest, her un-beating heart seeming to pulse with pain and anxiety. "Guys, we need to go, something's wrong," she said, turning to her two companions.

"But Isa, we're just getting to the good part," Maggie groaned as Heidi closed the book in her hand. The older woman had been reading from her own private collection of vampire erotica novels, amusing her friends with human tales of vampires and their raunchy love affairs with idiotic women. "The vampire was just about to drink blood from the woman's thigh, bringing her to orgasm of course, which is just dumb as hell. How is that arousing?"

"I don't know Maggie, it is pretty arousing for a vampire. Have you never tried drinking from a beautiful woman by her thigh? Makes the blood all that much more sweeter if she has an orgasm coursing through her," Heidi retorted, winking at the redhead.

"I've bitten Sulpicia there before," Isabelle mentioned offhandedly, still rubbing her chest, "Drinking her venom as she's going through an orgasm. It really is quite good."

Maggie made a disgusted face, " I don't know if I want to know that much about the queen's sex life."

"I do, tell me more," Heidi sat up and looked at the girl expectantly.

"Maybe later, but I really do feel like something is wrong," Isabelle replied, the pressure in her chest growing. "I need to find Cia." With that, she was out the door and running back to her mate's office. The pressure continued to build in her chest until it bottomed out, causing Isabelle to stagger into the wall. Worry and fear ate at her, pushing her to go faster as she could no longer feel her bond with Sulpicia; the undeniable force that drew them together even when she was human. As she ran, flashes of memories assaulted her mind, memories of her life as Isabella Swan.

"Cia!" She yelled, throwing open the office door. Seeing her mate collapsed on the ground with the three Denali sisters hovering over her, Isabelle fell down on her knees next to the woman. "What happened?" Isabelle asked, her dark red eyes glaring at the three women.

"We're not sure," Tanya replied, her mind shaken at seeing the powerful vampire collapse in front of her. "We were talking about the day our mother was killed, and she started holding her head, complaining of a headache, and then she just, just fell over."

Isabelle took in her words while her worried eyes traced over her mate, making sure that she was physically fine. "We should get her to Marcus and Didyme, maybe they'll know what is wrong." The brunette carefully picked up her mate and carried her to Didyme's section of the castle.

"How did you know something was wrong?" Kate asked, following the newborn. "I thought all of the rooms here were soundproof?"

"They are, even the walls, but I felt something was wrong, I felt it through our bond, and now I can't feel her at all," the brunette said, desperation causing her voice to crack.

"Which door is it?" Irina asked, dashing ahead. Isabelle nodded her head to the left and Irina threw the door open, letting Isabelle and her burden pass unhindered.

"Didyme, Marcus," Isabelle cried, running up to them. "Sulpicia collapsed, she's unconscious, I can't feel her, I don't know what to do…"

"Isabelle, shhhh, calm down," Didyme jumped up, grabbing the girl as Marcus took her sister from the younger vampire. "How did she get this way?"

"We were talking," Tanya explained, "She was telling us about Sasha and then mentioned something about a pressure in her head."

"I felt it," Isabelle said, "I felt it when I was with Maggie and Heidi and I knew that I had to find Cia."

"She was talking about Sasha…" Didyme murmured, wincing as she also felt a sharp pressure in her head. "Ouch," she reached up and rubbed her head, causing the other people in the room to look at her.

"Stop thinking about it," Marcus ordered, "Whatever you were thinking about caused you to feel the pain, same with Sulpicia. Except I think the reason why Sulpicia blacked out is because she continued to push against it and the pain got to her."

"Will she be okay?" Isabelle asked, nervously, hovering over her prone mate.

"She'll be fine Isabelle," Marcus said, "Even vampires need to rest every now and then." He narrowed his eyes at Isabelle, looking carefully at her bonds. They were the same, but appeared healthier, particularly the part closest to Isabelle. While before the lines had appeared strong, but fractured with cracks running through them, now the cracks were gone, like they had never been there. "Even though you can't feel the bond to Sulpicia at present, it is still there and it's strong."

Isabelle nodded absently and Tanya stepped forward. "I'd like to apologize Isabelle for putting you in this position. If we hadn't been asking questions about Sasha then she wouldn't have collapsed like she did."

"No, Marcus is right, she collapsed because she pushed herself, she's always doing that," Isabelle murmured as her fingers brushed through her mate's long dark hair. She lightly fingered the strands for a few minutes before turning to look at the three women. "They mentioned you, you know, the Cullens, they told me… well, _her,_ about you."

"I thought you didn't remember your life before you were changed?" Kate asked suspiciously.

The brunette shook her head, "I didn't, not really, not until a few minutes ago. I guess the shock of not feeling my mate jarred some things loose. But it wasn't like _I_ was remembering things in the past that _I_ had done. More like I was an observer to what happened. It felt like forever but I know it was only a minute but I watched as this… this girl who looks just like me make stupid decisions over and over and over again." Isabelle huffed, "Others called her selfless, but I thought she was just trying to get attention. There is such thing as a selfless person, but that much and they're just pathetic, trying to get attention for appearing so good and noble, especially with how often she drew attention to herself for being demure, humble, selfless, stupid…"

"This brings a whole new definition to self-depricating," Irina murmured.

"We'll have to get Liam to come read your soul when Sulpicia is up moving around, I know she'll want to hear and maybe Liam will be able to shed some light on this situation," Didyme said, patting the younger vampire on the shoulder.

The six conscious vampires were silent for a moment and Isabelle was about to pick Sulpicia up and take her to their room when Tanya took a small step towards her. "You said that the Cullens mentioned us," the strawberry blonde vampire started, "What did they, you know, tell you, er, _her_?"

Isabelle cocked her head and rifled through the memories that she had received, trying to piece them in order with the fragments that already existed in her head. "The head of the coven, Carlisle, he said that he was great friends with Eleazar, and spoke of him like he was the coven leader, but that's you right?" At Tanya's small nod, Isabelle continued, "The single one with the stupid hair, Edward? He mentioned something about you, that you and your sisters. Something about how none of you could control your sexual lusts and behavior and how you continuously had sex with men and women, vampire and human. He said that you," she pointed to Tanya, "kept trying to tempt him whenever he visited and that he didn't like visiting you for that reason."

Kate rolled her eyes, "Some friends."

"Carlisle never did like the idea of a woman in charge of a coven, though it seems like Esme is the one pulling the strings in whatever they're involved in," Tanya replied. "He always did strike me as a bit of a wimp though."

"Probably the pacifist in him," Irina commented. "Speaking of wimpy pacifist, where are Eleazar and Carmen? I thought they were in here with you?"

"They decided to go to their room instead, I can call for one of the guards and have them take you to yours?" Didyme asked, looking at the three sisters.

"I'm going to take Sulpicia back to our room," Isabelle said, picking up her mate and carrying her back to their wing, bypassing the office in favor of the bedroom.

Isabelle placed her on their bed and stripped the unconscious queen. Crawling into bed next to her mate, the brunette situated herself next to her mate. She threw one of her legs over the queen's legs and pulled the dark haired woman's head and nestled it against her naked chest. Isabelle pressed her nose onto the top of Sulpicia's head and lightly inhaled the familiar scent of the older woman, and the oils and perfumes she uses in her hair.

The vampire allowed the scent to waft around her, filling her very being in an attempt to calm her but Isabelle still felt shaken, by Sulpicia collapsing and the memories rushing back to her. She thought she would be relieved, knowing who she was, completely, knowing who she had been. She thought that she would have answers on who she wanted to be. Sulpicia had told her that she could be anyone, that being a vampire was a fresh start for her.

She believed her mate, her words, fully and completely, and she believed everyone who told her that their own memories of the past were gone and that she shouldn't worry. She believed them, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still curious about who she had been. She wishes that she hadn't gotten her memories back. She hates who she was, Isabella Swan; the girl was pathetic, weak and incapable of making her own decisions. It took her life completely uprooting and falling apart around her for her to decide to do something for herself and escape.

She refused to be that person, she never wanted to be that person, that person was the rejected mate of that moron with the weird hair and that stupid, sex addict wolf. That person, that kind of person didn't deserve to be with a queen, didn't deserve to be with Sulpicia. Cia needed someone supportive, loving, but also someone strong who could stand on her own two feet.

She didn't feel strong now; with her mate unconscious on their bed, she felt lost, empty. Isabelle whimpered and pulled Sulpicia tighter to her, trying to will the older woman awake, pass her some of her own strength. She didn't know how much time passed. She let go of her consciousness and let her mind wander away as she held vigil over her mate, protecting her in her vulnerable state.

Her body was locked in a vice like grip when she felt the older woman start to stir. "Isabelle," Sulpicia murmured, blinking into awareness.

"Cia," Isabelle croaked, tightening her hold on the woman.

Sulpicia turned in the younger woman's embrace, pressing her face into naked breasts in front of her. "What happened?" She breathed out, her lips caressing the soft curve of Isabelle's breast.

"You collapsed," the brunette said, her voice cracking. "You were talking with the Denali sisters and you complained about a pain in your head before collapsing."

Sulpicia's brow furrowed as she sought to remember the events her mate described. "I, I vaguely remember that happening," she murmured again. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"I, I don't know," the brunette cried out. "Oh Cia, I was so worried, I, there was a pressure in my chest and I couldn't feel you anymore." Sobs built up in the younger vampire's throat, "I was so scared, I thought, I thought I lost you."

The older woman could feel the shuddering sobs in her mate's chest and started pressing kisses to the exposed skin in front of her, peppering kisses up her neck and on her face as she scooted her body up to be eye level with her mate. "It's okay Isabelle," Sulpicia breathed, "You're okay, I'm okay."

Isabelle's sobs ceased and she connected her lips to her mate's in a searing kiss, full of fire and passion that caused Sulpicia's toes to curl. "I need to feel you," Isabelle gasped out, her lips never far from the queen's skin. "I need to feel you right now."

Sulpicia let out a breath of air as Isabelle pushed her onto her back. She let out a partial scream when Isabelle descended on her, her back arching up off of the bed and her nervous system tingling as pleasure overrode her system. Time seemed to freeze; all she knew was pleasure, over and over and over again. She collapsed back on the bed, her eyes staring unseeingly at the ceiling while Isabelle eased off. The brunette moved up to lay next to her dark haired mate, content at fully feeling her mate, both physically and emotionally through their bond. She purred in contentment and nestled in closer to the older woman, not even wanting air to be between them.

"We, we should feed precious," Sulpicia breathed out, running her fingers along her mate's bare back. "You're eyes are dark, and it's not just from arousal."

"I don't want to let go," the brunette whispered, clutching tighter at the older woman.

"I know precious, I know," the woman cooed. "But just because you let go physically, does not mean that you have to let go in here." She pressed her hand up against Isabelle's breast just above her heart. Isabelle grabbed the woman's hand and lightly kissed her fingers before moving away.

"I guess we should go hunt, I don't want to have to eat one of the gardeners again."

"We don't have to go far," Sulpicia murmured, sitting up in bed. "The Italian government sent some criminals over for our dungeons the other week. We can eat a few of them, they're all some of the worst of humanity."

Isabelle nodded and the two got dressed, running down to the dungeons. Sulpicia opened a separate section away from where they hold their vampire prisoners, and where Victoria was currently being held, to where the human prisoners were kept. She grabbed two large men out of their cells, both of them yelling and attempting to escape the vampire's hold. Sulpicia ignored their pleas and brought the larger of the two to her mate. They drained the two humans and disposed of the bodies in the furnace beneath the castle before heading back up to find the other two queens.

They heard yelling coming from the throne room and ran into the room, finding Athenodora screaming at a cowering Carmen while Caius was holding back a snarling Eleazar. "What were you thinking you moronic imbecilic twit?" Dora yelled, "What makes you think that what you did was okay?!"

"Sister?" Sulpicia questioned, drawing their attention, "What is going on here?"

"Cia, you're awake," Didyme greeted, walking up to them. "Thank goodness, there have been some… complications with the Denalis."

"Complications?"

"This twit," Athenodora growled, pointing at Carmen. "Messaged Esme Cullen that we were taking them into custody for questioning on crimes relating to the Cullen family." The blonde queen stalked forward to the sniveling woman on the floor, "What if this news causes them to go underground, or alerts them to Isabelle's presence here?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Carmen gasped out, "I was just trying to warn my friend, I thought she was my friend."

Athenodora growled again and was going to lash out at the woman when Sulpicia stopped her. "Calm sister, this won't solve anything, what is done is done," the dark queen said, turning her attention to Carmen. "I wasn't going to read you before, for being old friends, but now I really must insist." She held her hand out towards the two and Carmen hesitantly placed her hand in the queen's. Sulpicia tightly grasped the hand and her brow furrowed as Carmen's relatively boring life flashed through her mind. She concentrated more on the moments after Carmen was introduced to Carlisle and Esme, frowning when she didn't discern anything of interest. Just before she released her hand, Sulpicia saw the text that Carmen sent Esme and rolled her eyes. "Not the brightest of individuals are you?"

Carmen smiled weakly and Sulpicia shifted her attention to her former guard member, not even waiting for him to hold out his hand as she reached out and grasped his shoulder. She hadn't bothered to read Eleazar much when he was a guard because he was such a valued and trusted member of her coven. As she watched his memories, Sulpicia growled out as more was revealed to her than she was looking for. "Take them both to the dungeons," Sulpicia ordered, a growl building up in her chest.

"What did you see sister?" Didyme asked as Afton and Chelsea carried out the order, dragging the two protesting vampires out of the throne room.

"Our dear friend Eleazar has been lying to us," the woman seethed, pulling her mate close to her in hopes that the girl's scent would calm her down. "He has been lying to us almost the entire time he's been a guard."

Didyme and Athenodora exchanged worried looks while Tanya, Irina and Kate looked confused. "Lying about what?" Irina asked.

Sulpicia strode towards her throne, seating herself with Isabelle sitting on the arm of the throne to offer strength and support. "My rat-bastard ex-husband," the dark queen growled out, her eyes dark. The other occupants of the room stiffened, but Isabelle kept her focus on the woman next to her, rubbing her back. "Eleazar repeatedly told me that Aro didn't have a gift, that he was an average vampire despite his biological sister having a gift, but he lied."

"Eleazar lied about Aro having a gift?" Didyme asked, "What does that have to do with anything now?"

"I agree with Dy. I believe in imprisoning people for any crime, but what does Eleazar lying about Aro having a gift mean to anything now?" Dora added.

"Because it's what his gift was and what it means that is important." Sulpicia sighed, "That bastard had the power to manipulate memories, changing them and erasing them at will. Eleazar noted in his memories that an intense, sharp pressure in your mind was indication of a memory being tampered with."

Her words hit the room like an anvil. "The memories of Sasha," Irina murmured, recalling a pressure in her mind when she thought of her mother. She thought it was just sadness, but now she was wondering if it could be something more.

Didyme gasped, "Oh my god, the day Aro was executed, whenever I think about it, I feel a sharp pressure in my head."

"Fuck," Athenodora said, "That means that bastard might still be alive? Who was supposed to carry out his execution?"

"Jane, Alec and…" Sulpicia voiced trailed off as her eyes landed on the tall mahogany haired guard who was staring resolutely at the ground, "and Heidi…"

* * *

 **A/N:** Not where I thought this was going to end, but this seemed like a good place to end it. Usually at this point, I know how many chapters I have left to do, but I have no idea. I'm hoping there will be less than 20, but who knows at this point. This chapter was going to go a different direction, and the direction it did go was going to be the next chapter, but everything course corrected halfway through and I realized this was the best way to go. Cullens will come in next chapter... hopefully... some Cullens...

Anyway, I didn't realize that Bella was going to get her memories back until it was happening and I was like oh, hot damn, well that was unforeseen.

 **Review please**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Sorry I didn't update last week guys, one of my friends I went to school with died suddenly last week and it threw me a little of kilter. I didn't really get around to writing the last part of the chapter until this week when I was feeling a little better.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: July 1st 2016**

 **Chapter 15**

Isabelle's hand tightened on Sulpicia's arm when her mate focused on the statuesque guard. "Cia," Isabelle murmured, a slight tinge of warning in her tone.

Sulpicia heard her mate but ignored her, focusing her attention on her guard. "Heidi," the dark queen bit out, leaning forward in her throne. "Come here."

The mahogany haired guard glanced apologetically at Isabelle before moving forward, bowing in front of Sulpicia. "My Queen."

"Heidi," the dark queen started with a dangerous tone. "Have you been keeping secrets from us?" Heidi visibly flinched at Sulpicia's words and the queen lashed out, grabbing the woman by her neck and pulling her close. "What happened?!"

"My-my queen, I didn't want to, I-I didn't have any choice," she gasped out, venom tears filling her eyes.

"What did you do?!" Sulpicia seethed.

Heidi stayed silent, fear paralyzing her. "Heidi," Isabelle whispered, moving to stand next to her friend, her sister. "What happened?" The brunette placed her hand on her mate's arm as a silent message to release the guard. Sulpicia snarled silently but did as her mate requested, and sat back down on her throne.

"I, it started years ago, not long after I was changed," Heidi started. "My sire, Hilda, she was one of the best women I had ever known. She did so much for me and for my friends. She rescued me from my abusive father and my friends from a brothel. She turned us when it was safe so as not to have a bunch of newborns running around. Anne, my friend, Victoria was her younger sister and she went back for her when she could and Hilda turned her. A year later she turned another woman, Noela, that's just who Hilda was, she found a bunch of us broken, mistreated women, girls, and wanted to give us a better life…" Heidi glanced down and took a deep breath. "We were happy, until _they_ came."

"They who?" Athenodora demanded.

"Aro and his witch twins," Heidi said, "They claimed that they were there as representatives of the Volturi. Aro accused Hilda of having too many newborns in one place and he… He… He killed them, my friends and covenmates. Victoria's gift helped her get away, and I guess she went feral… Aro, he took Hilda." Desperation entered her voice, "He knew about me, knew about my gift. He said that he was going to have me placed in the guard of the Volturi, he wanted me to spy for him. If I didn't he was going to kill Hilda."

"You showed up after Aro and the twins went on a scouting mission," Sulpicia acknowledge, "Spinning a story about your coven being destroyed."

"Because it was!"

"But you weren't entirely truthful were you, you could have told us that they were the ones who destroyed your coven," Didyme said, narrowing her eyes at the statuesque guard.

"They would've killed Hilda, I couldn't let that happen!"

"Enough," Sulpicia ordered, "Tell me what happened the day Aro was executed."

"Isn't it obvious? Jane and Alec helped Aro escape while I covered for them," Heidi said, a defeated tone in her voice. "Aro altered everyone's memories and masked ours so that you wouldn't find out what really happened."

"And you've continued to spy for that bastard all this time?" Sulpicia asked, fury in her voice.

"Until the last few months," Heidi replied weakly, "Aro knew that you didn't really trust Jane and Alec so he used me as a way to get inside information. I didn't know what else to do."

Sulpicia opened her mouth to ask another question but Didyme cut her off. "You said you were spying until a few months ago, why did you stop?"

Heidi glanced over to the brunette queen. "Before… I didn't have anyone other than Hilda. I don't have hope of finding a mate, not with my gift, so I resigned myself to being alone. As long as I had my sire, I was okay, I knew that if she was still alive, I had someone." A fond smile came across Heidi's face as she met Isabelle's eyes, "But a few months ago, I got a little sister, I had someone else in my life, someone who would love me and not expect anything from me. As much as I love Hilda, Isabelle is family, my sister, I would never do anything that would hurt her."

Isabelle looked back at her mate with a look of pleading in her eyes but a hardness about her features that promised consequences if the older vampire displeased her. Sulpicia rolled her eyes and sighed, "Did Aro tell you what he was planning, or anything about what happened with Sasha? I realize that that was before your time."

"No, Aro never discussed things around me, Jane and Alec were closer," Heidi said.

"Where are Alec and Jane?" Athenodora asked, looking around the room for the two.

"Alec has left," Jane's voice came from the side of the room, drawing everyone's attention. The girl had drastically changed since Isabelle had used her gift on her. Gone were the tightly pulled buns and challenging smirks; instead her blonde hair hung around her head like a curtain and her face portrayed a thoughtful expression. "He went to rejoin Master Aro," she continued. "He tried to get me to come with him but I refused."

"Aro is alive," Sulpicia growled, "When did he call for you?"

"After Carlisle alerted him of Carmen's phone call," the girl replied.

The dark queen hissed while Didyme looked at the vampire thoughtfully. "Why did you stay behind Jane?"

The blonde vampire locked eyes with the queen momentarily before looking away and shrugging. "I don't know. Before… well, I used to really believe in what Master Aro was doing, I believed in his plans, but it's like I have other priorities now, a new perspective almost."

"You'll forgive us if we still don't trust you," Sulpicia sneered, the entire situation still frustrating her. Jane nodded and moved to step back to the wall but Irina stopped her.

"Wait, Jane, do you know what happened to our mother, you were there that day."

Jane looked calculatingly at the three Denalis. "Mistress Sasha is with Master Aro supporting him as a good mate does."

"Sasha is alive?" Tanya gasped out. Her sisters and the three queens were just as shocked at Jane's words while the smaller blonde vampire remained ambivalent to their surprise.

"What happened that day Jane?" Athenodora asked through clenched teeth.

Jane glanced over at the blonde queen with faraway eyes. "Master Aro heard about the immortal child that the woman had created and was intrigued by the destruction the monster caused. He took us to search her out under the guise of upholding the law, but really he was intrigued. He took one look at the woman and he knew, she knew as well. Master Aro asked her if she would agree to be his, leave with him and help him with his plans, and in return he promised her a child of her own, one more manageable and controllable than an immortal child. Sasha agreed and Aro altered their memories," Jane finished, gesturing towards the three Denali sisters.

Kate shook her head in disbelief, "No, no way Sasha would've left us, she's was our mother, we were her daughters, she wouldn't have abandoned us."

"Except that Sasha did abandon her first changelings," Sulpicia sighed, sitting back down on her throne, leaning slightly into her mate. "I should've known, I should've known that Aro was still alive, along with Sasha."

"You're not the only one who should've know that Cia," Didyme told her. "He's my younger brother, despite being a bastard, I should've known that he was still alive. I changed him, he's my responsibility."

"I married him, gave him more power than he should've had, Aro's actions are my responsibility," Sulpicia countered, staring at her brunette sister.

"This pity party is nice and all," Athenodora started, "But we're all responsible for this. We should've taken care of Aro ourselves, and sooner so that he wouldn't get the opportunity to continue developing his deranged schemes and poisoning our guards. We're all responsible and we all need to take care of this, so get off the pity train and get your heads in the game." Sulpicia and Didyme looked properly chastised but acquiesced to their war-hungry sister. "Good, we know what Aro was planning, but we don't know how advanced his schemes have progressed or who he has on his side, other than the Cullen clan and several of our guards."

"What exactly is Aro planning?" Tanya asked, "You mentioned something about a Genesis Project? Eleazar looked pretty freaked, what does it mean and how are the Cullens tied into this?"

"They are active members of the Genesis Project, they're helping Aro bring it about, though we don't know how extensively they're involved," Didyme answered.

"What is the Genesis Project?" Irina asked, irritated that the issue had been talked around but never fully stated.

Isabelle looked at her mate curiously as the older vampire glanced at her sisters warily. Sulpicia was about to answer the vegetarian vampire's question when Felix burst into the room. "Pardon me my Queens, but you have a visitor that demands an audience immediately."

"And who dares demand anything of us?" Athenodora asked. A commotion came from outside the throne room, and Alice Cullen burst through the door.

The pixie like vampire looked haggard and unkempt, her eyes dark and her clothes wrinkled and dirty. Her eyes were unfocused when she gazed at the three queens on their thrones. "Queens?" She murmured to herself, still unable to fully focus. She opened her moth to speak again when her eyes fell on the brunette perched on Sulpicia's throne. "Bella?" Alice asked, her voice shaking.

"Alice…" Isabelle murmured, standing from her spot. The shorter vampire shook slightly in place. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The brunette rushed up to her former friend and crouched down next to her crumpled form. "What's wrong with her?" She asked, looking up at her mate who had followed after her.

"It looks like she fainted," Sulpicia answered, briefly touching Alice's arms. Her frowned deepened as she took in her disjointed and fragmented memories. "Something is wrong with her, Felix take her to one of the guest rooms and you and Demetri are to watch her. Heidi your fate is yet to be decided, but until that time comes, you are to be confined to your rooms, Corin and Santiago will be guarding you." The queen turned her attention to the diminutive form of Jane standing quietly by the wall. "And Jane…"

"Marcus and I will have a word with Jane," Didyme stated firmly. "We're long overdue for a talk anyway."

"Good, everyone is dismissed then," Sulpicia said and the vampires in the room dispersed.

Athenodora stalked out of the room heading for the dungeons. "I'm going to the dungeons to have a word with Eleazar and his lovely mate."

Tanya, Irina and Kate followed after her, worry for their coven mates filling them but the desire for answers overrode their concern. Eleazar knew Aro after their mother had 'died,' after she left them. They wanted to know if he knew that she was alive the whole time and if the two valued members of their family were lying to them this whole time.

"So what's going to happen now?" Isabelle asked, pressing herself into her mate. "What's going to happen with Heidi, and Eleazar and Carmen? And what about Alice, what did you see in her mind?"

"Eleazar and Carmen's infraction has yet to be determined, their level of involvement is unknown. Heidi… there are extenuating circumstances with her," Sulpicia murmured as the two walked back to their room. "I can't call for her execution because of her bond with you, it would be detrimental to your mental and emotional wellbeing if she were to die. I'm not sure yet what her punishment will be."

Sulpicia sighed and sat down on her bed, pulling Isabelle down on the bed after her. "And as for Alice Cullen… her mind was odd. I haven't encountered a mind as fractured and disjointed as hers in a vampire before."

"But you have encountered a mind like hers before?"

"Humans with prolonged drug use, usually hallucinogens. There isn't something that would have the same affect on vampires though…" Sulpicia's voice trailed off. "But Carlisle is a doctor, so if someone were to develop something that would have such an effect, he would be the one to do it."

"What is going on Cia? Carlisle and Esme were nice to me but wanted me as some kind of order-made bride for Edward and then wanted to kill me, and now Carlisle is drugging vampires that he considers his children? What about Alice's mate Jasper, why isn't he her with her?"

"We'll have to wait until whatever is in Alice's system to work its way out, and hope that it works its way out," Sulpicia murmured, running her fingers up and down Isabelle's back. "Will you be okay talking with Alice? I know that it hasn't been all that long since you remembered who she is."

Isabelle thought for a moment, propping herself up on her elbow to look down at her mate. "I will be, I need answers, and you will tell me what all of this is about the Genesis Project right? I'm tired of being kept in the dark."

"I will, it is time to air all of this out. I didn't mean to keep you in the dark, but hearing about it is a reminder of a terrible time in all of our lives," Sulpicia said. "I want to hear what Miss Cullen says first though."

"I'm hoping that the rest of my vampire life is not as exciting as the first few months."

Sulpicia was amused by Isabelle's statement, "Don't you want mystery and mayhem to happen all the time."

"I just want to be with you," the brunette said, pressing herself closer to her mate. "I just want to be with you all the time and not have crazy people threatening us."

"And I will do anything to grant that wish," the queen swore, kissing her mate softly. "Anything."

* * *

Alice's mind slowly came back into awareness. Her mind was still foggy and disjointed but she pulled herself into consciousness. She kept her eyes closed in order to calm her murky mind, and she focused on her surroundings instead of the muddiness of her memories. She could feel a soft fabric beneath her body; her fingers stroked the material and determined it to be cotton. The air in the room brushed against her skin, indicating a light breeze, or that the air in the room was circulating. Both of these facts surprised her. She distinctly remembers fleeing to the Volturi as a last resort. Carlisle had always told them that the Volturi was a harsh coven living in a dank castle. She half expected that the kings would through her in the dungeons for barging into the throne room, but she's feeling cloth and air moving around her. A hazy memory of three women sitting on thrones entered her mind, confusing her. Carlisle lied? Jasper lied? Her face scrunched up involuntarily as she shifted through her memories and she locked onto the brunette sitting on the arm of the middle throne.

"Bella!" Alice yelled as her eyes flew open. She bolted upright, her eyes whirling around the room looking for the brunette, looking for anyone. Her eyes fell on this gigantic vampire in the room with her and she violently flinched backwards.

"I'll alert the queens that you're awake," the giant said, leaving the room. Alice spotted another vampire standing outside of her room and she remembers their names, Felix and Demetri.

Her head was still clouded and Alice leaned forward on the bed she was laying and held her head in her hands, groaning. "What is wrong with me?"

"You seem to have been drugged Miss Cullen," a woman's voice came. Alice jerked her head up and saw the dark haired vampire that was sitting on the middle throne when she burst into the throne room. A curious brunette and angry looking blonde followed into the room after her. "Do you know where you are?" The pixie like vampire paused before nodding her head. "Do you know who we are?"

"I'm guessing you're the… queens of the Volturi? But that's not right, Carlisle and Jasper always told me that there were three kings that ruled in the vampire world…"

"Carlisle was never accepting that women were in charge of the vampire women," the blonde woman said. "Of course he doesn't quite understand that women are in charge in the human world as well, they're just bidding their time." She let out a chuckle, "I'll never forget the look on his face when he walked in on Caius and I during one of our… sessions. He looked shocked, scandalized and turned on at the same time. I wonder if Esme whips him? She seems to have his balls, so maybe she does."

Alice stared at the women in confusion and fear, trying to understand what is going on. The brunette woman noticed her expression. "Dora, you're scaring her," she chided. "I'm Didyme, Athenodora is the loud mouth blonde over there and Sulpicia is the black haired one. Do you recognize those names?"

The pixie vampire's eyes glazed over slightly as struggled to have a vision to inform her of what was happening, but all she managed to do was get a flash of memory of Carlisle briefly mentioning the kings' wives. "I, yes, you are, were… Carlisle said you were the kings' wives," Alice answered.

Sulpicia snorted, "If Carlisle is referring to Aro being a king, he is sorely mistaken. Caius is captain of the guard, not a king, and Marcus is the castle minstrel, also not a king. If any of our mates are royalty it would be Isabelle if she chose to be queen, but I feel that she'll follow Caius and Marcus's example and choose something else."

"Isabelle might surprise you, she does have the habit of surprising us all," Didyme spoke to her sister, momentarily ignoring the other vampire in the room.

"Isabelle…" Alice murmured, her fuzzy mind getting the best of her. "You mean Bella Swan? She shouldn't be here, she should be dead, they told us she was dead." A pounding started in her head, causing her to grab at her skull. "You said drugged," she started slowly, "What do you mean drugged… vampires can't be drugged…"

"It seems like she's still out of it, best we put her back under again," Sulpicia said. "Which will be difficult since Alec has defected."

"I got this," Athenodora said, walking up to Alice. "I've been working on ways to render vampires unconscious just in case something happened to that pansy boy."

"Dora, you're not allowed to hit Miss Cullen," Sulpicia sighed.

The blonde scoffed, "I know." She reached out and grabbed onto Alice's neck, pressing on a point between the girl's shoulder and her neck. The younger vampire's eyes instantly rolled into the back of her head and she slumped back on the bed.

"Did you…" Didyme started, "Did you kill her?"

"No, pressure points," Athenodora replied as she moved away from the bed. "I theorized that we're not all that different from humans, just more durable and we need a different sustanence, but most everything else is the same, biologically anyway. Humans have pressure points, so I started testing on Caius if we had the same points."

Sulpicia snorted, "I bet he loved that. How long do you think she's going to be out again?"

The blonde shrugged, "I don't know, a few hours, a few days, could be more, could be less."

"How helpful."

Didyme walked towards Alice's prone form on the bed and carefully opened her mouth. She produced a swab in her hand and swiped it in the younger vampire's mouth, retrieving some of her venom. "We need to find out what type of drug Carlisle's been using on her," she explained to her sisters, sealing the swab. "Besides, we do have several scientist on pay roll actively working to create a blood substitute for us just in case we need it. What's one more project for them to work on?"  
"They've been working on those blood substitutes for years," Athenodora complained, "Why can't they work on something fun for once? Like making a vampire dog, a Doberman or Irish Wolfhound sitting at the foot of my throne would do wonders for my image."

"We've already covered this Dora, you're not getting a dog," Sulpicia sighed.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"What would you do with a dog, a vampire dog?"

"I don't know, what do humans do with dogs? Walk him, feed him, play with him-"

"You have Caius for that," Sulpicia interrupted. "You have a husband, you don't need a dog."

Athenodora tilted her head and nodded, "I guess you're right, though the games we play are a little more involved than the games I could play with a dog. Though I'm going to revisit this in the future."

"In the future, they'll have a robot dog, and you can get a _robot_ dog," Sulpicia stated firmly, stressing the word 'robot' carefully.

"I'd hate to change the subject, but we really should talk about what to tell Isabelle, the Denalis, the Whitlocks and the Irish coven about the Genesis Project," Didyme interrupted.

Athenodora glanced over at her sister, "I thought that we had decided to talk to them after we talked with the midget fortune teller?"

"We don't know how long Miss Cullen will be out Dora," Didyme replied, glaring at the blonde vampire. "We really shouldn't wait any longer to talk to them. We're holding information back from them on something that is affecting them, something that is affecting us all, it would be wrong of us to continue to withhold this information."

Sulpicia sighed, "I know what you're saying is true, and I do agree that we should tell them but I really don't want to talk about this. It's not only horrible, but embarrassing that we let this occur, we let Aro have this much power to be able to start this… this glorified genocide."

"We didn't let this happen Cia, we tried to stop it as soon as we found out," Dora corrected. "This, all of this is Aro's doing and those who side with him. And I don't think genocide is a strong enough word to describe it."

"So we're agreed that we have to tell them?" Didyme asked.

"Yes Dy, we have to tell them," Sulpicia agreed. "None of our offices are big enough to house the people for this discussion, but the library should suffice."

"I'll round up the Denalis," Athenodora said, "And fetch Eleazar and Carmen from the dungeon. A few days down there should have straightened them out a little bit, but what do we do with our redheaded friend?"

"Leave her down there until we can aim her at something," Didyme suggested. "I'll grab the Whitlocks and the Irish Coven, they've been spending a lot of time together in the recreation room."

"Meaning that Liam and Peter are competing with each other," Athenodora snorted.

Sulpicia left her sisters in the hallway and made her way to her own chambers to find her mate. When she didn't find Isabelle in their rooms, she changed directions to Heidi's room and found Chelsea standing guard at the door. "You're looking for Isa," Chelsea stated, "She's inside."

"I figured as much," the dark queen sighed before opening the door and stepping inside.

Heidi and Isabelle were lying on Heidi's couch painting each other's nails using the numerous bottles of polish that the statuesque guard had in her collection. Sulpicia observed for a moment as Heidi dropped several colors in a bowl of water before dunking one of Isabelle's fingers into the mix.

"Cia!" Isabelle squealed when she spotted her mate, "Look, don't they look pretty?" She held out her right hand to the queen, showing her the polished, marble effect of the swirled colors on her nails.

"Truly lovely," Suclpicia agreed. The queen turned her attention to Heidi, who hadn't looked at her since she entered the room, choosing instead to focus on her task. "Precious one," she said, turning back to her mate. "We have decided to tell those involved about the Genesis Project. Alice Cullen woke up, but she was still disoriented. Dora knocked her out again and Didyme took a sample of her venom to see if she was indeed drugged as we assume. But in the mean time, we figured it was good to have that discussion now."

"What's going to happen with Heidi?" The two women glanced over to the mahogany haired guard, who looked up momentarily but continued to finish the nails on Isabelle's left hand.

Sulpicia turned a critical gaze on the guard member, scrutinizing her where she sat. "Heidi," the queen called. When red eyes locked with hers, Sulpicia continued, "Do you feel any loyalty to Aro any more?"

"No my queen," Heidi stated vehemently. "I didn't want to betray you to begin with, I felt I didn't have any choice. I don't feel alone now, not with my bond to Isabelle, I'd do anything for her."

"Mhm, you're a good big sister for my mate," the queen conceded, "And that bond is what saved your life. Chelsea come in here please." The other guard member was in the room in a flash, her head bowed. "Heidi, your punishment will be that you will be on probation for the next fifty years, no missions, no leaving the castle unsupervised. Your other punishment will be that Chelsea will break the bonds that you held to anyone outside of the Volturi, your sire, your coven mates. She won't strengthen the bonds to anyone here, except the one you share with Isabelle. That may not seem like much of a punishment but it is rather disconcerting to have the sire bond broken in such a way. The only other way that the bond could break in a similar manner would be slaying your own sire, so the pain it will cause you will be great."

"I haven't seen Hilda in nearly 500 years, I don't see how it'll hurt," Heidi stated, a slight amount of protest in her voice.

Sulpicia just hummed, "Whether Hilda is dead or not, or if you've been around her or not doesn't matter, the bond still exists in some form. It can only be destroyed artificially or if you destroy it yourself. I killed my own sire so I know the pain it causes. It's enough to make you wish you were dead, like your own venom is punishing you for what you did."

"Why?" Isabelle asked, "Why does it do that?"

"We get our venom from our sires," Heidi said, her eyes full of dread. "They're basically the same, it's why other vampire's venom burns when it comes in contact with our own, except for our sire's and others changed by them." She scrubbed at her face with her hand and stood up in front of Sulpicia. "I accept this punishment, but please leave my bond with Isa alone."

"I wouldn't do anything that could hurt my mate," the queen said before motioning Chelsea forward.

The brunette vampire stepped forward and glanced at Heidi remorsefully, "Sorry, Heidi."

"I've brought this on myself Chels, I'll be alright," the mahogany haired guard replied, steeling her nerves. Chelsea nodded and with a gesture from the queen, the guard focused her power on her best friend, shredding every bond other than the ones she had with those in the Volturi. Heidi screamed out in pain when Chelsea started ripping at the sire bond. She clutched at her chest, scratching in an attempt to stop the pain before falling to her knees on the floor. She thrashed around violently, her screams increasing in volume before ceasing as Chelsea finally succeeded in snapping the bond. Heidi took a few shuddering breathes before passing out from the pain, her eyes drifting closed and her body stilling.

"Is she okay?" Isabelle asked, dropping down on the floor next to her sister. She touched Heidi gently, trying to rouse her but the vampire didn't wake.

"She'll be fine Isabelle," Sulpicia soothed, lifting her mate from the floor. "Chelsea will watch over her. You can skip the meeting if you feel you must stay with her."

Isabelle bit her lip and glanced down at Heidi before looking back to her mate. "No, I'll go to the meeting, I want to know what's going on. I'll be able to tell Heidi what happened later?"

The queen nodded and the two made their way to the library. Walking into the room, they found that the others had already seated themselves in various places around the sitting area. The Volturi library was quite large and extensive, holding lifetimes of tombs and texts, enough for any number of vampires to read in their entire lifespan. "It's about time you showed up," Tanya groused.

"I apologize but we were dealing with something," Sulpicia replied, rolling her eyes. "Where should we start, Dy, Dora?"

"I'll start, rat bastard is, was, definitely was my brother," Didyme sneered. "If we had been born during a time with the psychological information we have now, Aro would have been diagnosed as a psychopath. He was eleven years younger than me but he always creeped me out as a little kid. He seemed fake, shallow, and way too preoccupied with the stories told by the men about war, especially death. Nostaglia beat out any negative feelings I had about my brother and years after I was changed, I went back to my home village and offered to change him. He agreed of course."

Didyme sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "I shouldn't have changed him, or I should have realized early on what he was about."

"Aro was careful," Athenodora interjected, "He integrated himself with us, watching, learning, finding weaknesses."

Sulpicia nodded, "Psychopath was a good definition. He charmed me, wooed me I guess. I knew we weren't mates, we both knew that, but he convinced me to marry him so that we wouldn't be lonely while waiting for our mates. He was my sister's true brother, so I trusted him and complied, inadvertently giving him the power that he desired."

"Well, this tells us what he was like, a complete psycho, which we already knew, but it doesn't tell us what this Genesis Project is," Kate interrupted, looking between the three queens.

"Mind your tongue," Caius growled, stepping towards the blonde but his mate held him back.

"We don't know when he started," Athenodora said, "But it'd have to have been early, maybe a few centuries after he was turned. We had to clean house with a lot of our guards after he was supposedly executed. He was like that Jim Jones guy who convinced his followers to commit suicide, only in Aro's case was the radical takeover of the world."

"The Genesis Project was a sick, twisted scheme with many different parts, it's no wonder we didn't catch on to it right away," Didyme spat out.

"What was it?" Charlotte asked warily, unsure if she really wanted to know.

"It was a plan," Sulpicia said slowly, "A plan to change the world, to repopulate it with vampires and vampire-human hybrids."

"Hybrids?" Isabelle questioned.

"Human females can be impregnated by male vampires though the human dies in the process," Sulpicia told her. "Aro wanted to rid the world of all humans. He found them inferior to vampires and didn't see the need for them. These hybrids still have blood in them, along with venom, so drinking from them would still satisfy a full vampire's thirst and they could be readily produced." A dark look came over Sulpicia's face, "He started gathering gifted vampires, male vampires to impregnate human women. His plan was to use these women to produce gifted hybrids, especially if the human women had latent gifts. This worked on multiple levels, creating the perfect mates to keep his male vampires happy, as well as providing him an army and a food source to complete his plans."

"We suspect that Eleazar was helping him out," Athenodora accused, glaring at the Spanish vampire.

"And we know that Carlisle sided with him. He probably found a way to keep the human women alive so that the surrogates would be able to give birth to several vampire hybrids before… expiring," Didyme added. "We already know that Carlisle is capable of things that seem impossible. He somehow managed to drug Alice to keep her compliant."

"I, this can't be real," Carmen whispered, looking at her mate in betrayal. "You helped him?"

"I didn't know what he was doing!" Eleazar cried, "I swear I didn't know, I thought I was looking for gifted humans and vampires for the guard, I didn't know that Aro had his own agenda."

Sulpicia nodded, "I'm sure, Aro had a silver tongue. We know that the Cullens were working with him, but also separately from the notes in the journals Isabelle brought with her. They were using Aro's formula and ideas to find a mate for Edward, but also potential candidates to be broodmares. Many of the followers he gathered we destroyed, but the head survived, so the project survived."

Tanya took a shuddering breath, "This explains Aro's promise to Sasha, he told her that he would give her a child. He most likely searched for someone who looked like Sasha, raped her and then gave the hybrid to Sasha."

"It's despicable but we're talking about someone who wants to wipe out the entire human population with this insane vampire hybrid army," Siobhan drawled out.

"The real question is how to we stop him?" Maggie asked.

Athenodora growled out, "We don't even know where he is, or how far along the project is or even if he has improved on the project in the several centuries he's been lying low."

"Dora is right, we don't have enough information," Sulpicia agreed. "What we need is for Miss Cullen to wake up and be able to tell us something."

"Isn't there somewhere else we can get the information?" Isabelle asked, glancing at Peter.

The southern vampire shook his head, "Don't look at me, I don't work that way."

A knock sounded on the library door and one of the lower guard members stepped into the room. "Gianna has alerted us that two members of the Cullen coven are waiting in the lobby demanding an audience with the 'Kings'," He said, bowing his head.

"Which members?" Sulpicia demanded.

"Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen."

* * *

 **A/N:** So, do you think that is all the Genesis Project is or do you think that Aro might have improved on his plans? Also the introduction of Alice, Rose and Emmett at this point in the story was planned. I feel like we're drawing to a close with this story so I'm trying to wrap things up and make sure everything is ready to go for the finale. There's still a few chapters left, but not many, I don't think anyway. And the Aro and Sasha thing was cemented after I figured out how the stuff with the pack was going to be resolved.

 **Review please**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** I took July off. Why you might ask? Because I felt like it and I was feeling under-appreciated by you guys. I'm hoping this story will only be maybe two more chapters, two or three. I have other stories I want to work on and I need to move on from this.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: August 5th, 2016**

 **Chapter 16**

"If another member of that stupid coven shows up here, I'm executing them," Athenodora huffed, stalking from the room.

"Other than the three already here, there are four more members of the coven and all of them are already on the shit list," Sulpicia grumbled as well. The queen turned to her mate and saw an intrigued expression on the brunette's face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just wondering why they're here," Isabelle shrugged. "Unless they found out something about Carlisle and Esme. From what I remember about Rosalie, she was always prone to fits of irrational emotions. Emmett was like a giant child, always asking Bella to play with him, dragging her into games he knew she would suck at."

"Isa, it's a little weird that you talk about your human self in the third person," Maggie said, moving closer to the girl.

Isabelle shrugged, "I don't feel like we're the same person, so I shouldn't talk about her like she is myself. She's not me and I'm not her."

Maggie tilted her head, "I can understand that, makes sense. So we're going to the throne room to talk to the two errant Cullens?"

"Well, we are Maggie," Sulpicia said, pointing between herself, Didyme and their mates. "You are welcome to observe though."

"I want to interrogate the suspects," the Irish vampire protested while Liam and Siobhan groaned.

"She's been watching too many crime shows on Netflix," Siobhan explained to Didyme. "We don't have a TV or anything like that in our home but I'm afraid she's gotten addicted to the thing. Our electric bill is going to grow exponentially when we finally go home."

"I'm kind of amazed she lasted this long without television or internet honestly," Didyme muttered, "Though not being exposed to it probably helped. Caius was nearly foaming at the mouth when the first super computers were invented. He was trying to figure out how to get his hands on one and we barely managed to restrain him until smaller ones were made available to the public."

"You forget my love that he did manage to get his hands on a super computer," Marcus reminded her.

"You have a super computer?" Isabelle asked, "Why do you need one? What do you use it for?"

Sulpicia shrugged, "Caius likes to wage war on all fronts and he has grown fond of cyber warfare. He uses that thing to manage Volturi affairs and he and Corin like to hack into various government agencies to monitor them."

Maggie snorts at the queen's words, "You guys are a riot. Siobhan why didn't we come to the Volturi sooner? These guys are hilarious. The blonde queen is a crazy dominatrix who regularly tops the captain of the guard, and another queen is mated to this gigantic vampire who is probably the word's biggest pacifist, a no-longer wandering minstrel." The red haired vampire left the room, her chuckles still echoing down the corridor.

"We might never get back to the Emerald Isles," Liam lamented, "She finds the Volturi interesting."

"A few years is nothing to a vampire Liam, you three may stay as long as you like," Sulpicia offered. "I know Isabelle greatly enjoys Maggie's company and having friends around is probably what is keeping her so calm during her newborn year." The dark queen glanced ahead of her in the corridor where Isabelle had raced ahead to catch up with the Irish girl.

"You do know that this will mean that Maggie will insist you stay with us in Ireland a while," Siobhan smirked, "Expose you to what a real country and culture is like and all that."

Peter snorted behind them, "Didn't know y'all lived in Texas."

"I've always assumed Texans taste very much like leather, is that true?" Liam quipped, his eyebrow raised.

The Texan sputtered while Charlotte nodded her head giggling. "They do taste a little like leather, probably all of the beef barbeque."

"Do the Irish taste like Lucky Charms?" Peter spat out, a glare pictured on his face.

"I'm not sure what that is."

"It's hard to make good quips when you know nothing about modern culture," Peter grumbled. "Fine, do the Irish taste like Leprechauns?"

"You take that back!" Liam cried, turning to face the other vampire. The two men started squabbling in the corridor while the others kept heading for the throne room.

"It's nice to know my mate isn't the only idiot around," Siobhan smiled, glancing over at Charlotte. "No offense."

"None taken, I'm fully aware that my mate is an idiot," the bouncy blonde grinned. "He comes by it honestly."

The two queens and Marcus reached the entrance for the throne room and found Isabelle, Athenodora and Caius waiting for them. The entrance they used was behind their thrones while the rest of their group continued down the corridor to the side entrance. They quickly entered the room and took their spots; Athenodora, Didyme and Sulpicia sat down in their thrones while Caius and Marcus stood behind their mates. Isabelle debated for a minute before comfortably perching herself sideways in Sulpicia's lap, her legs tossed over the right arm of the throne.

"Comfortable?" Sulpicia asked amused.

"Well you said I could choose whether I wanted to be a guard or a queen so right now I'm testing out the queen thing," Isabelle replied, making herself more comfortable on Sulpicia's lap.

"Wouldn't that mean you'd get your own throne?"

Isabelle waved her hand dismissively, "A queen sits wherever she pleases, now lets get this over with, we need to start planning things."

Sulpicia stifled back a smirk while Didyme just smiled and looked away from her sister. The blonde queen had no such self-control as she burst out laughing. "Oh, newborns are so much fun, especially when they get to this defiant stage as they try to figure out who they are," Dora chuckled, easing back into her throne. "Isabelle is going to be trouble Cia." The blonde turned her attention to the brunette perched in her oldest sister's lap. "You'll like being a Queen Isa, while being a guard can be fun, being a queen has… extra benefits."

"Comfier seats too." The brunette newborn bit her lip innocently as she shifted slightly in her mate's lap, a cackle threatening to break free when she heard her mate let out a soft hiss. "Very comfy."

Sulpicia tamped down on her instincts to take her mate then and there on her throne and focused her mind back on the problem at hand. "Send the two Cullens in," the dark queen spoke, calling to the guards standing at the doors.

The guards disappeared and a few moments later, Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen walked through the doors. The two golden-eyed vampires blinked and looked around the room in fear for a moment. They were confused as to why three women were sitting in the thrones for the Volturi kings but their eyes soon focused on the brunette perched in the lap of the woman in the middle.

"Bella Swan," Rosalie sneered, "Should have known you would be here, went scurrying to find the first vampires you could after you dumped Edward because he refused to change you. How pathetic can you be?"

Before Rosalie even finished the sentence, Sulpicia was out of her throne and grasping the blonde around her neck. Emmett growled at the queen and launched himself at her but he was no much for the strength and experience of the older vampire. The queen casually batted him away for the guard to take care of but she never took her eyes off of the frightened golden ones in front of her. She watched the entire life of Rosalie Hale pass in front of her eyes. The vampire was one of the few that retained almost all of her human memories, holding onto them like a vice, afraid that if she were to let them go she would lose herself.

Sulpicia took in the childhood of a little blonde girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth, watching as the smiling child grew into a spoiled teenager, flaunting her wealth and ignorant of the poverty around her. A twinge of pity and a flash of anger filled her when she saw what happened when the girl was changed and how Carlisle handled her afterwards. The man was truly idiotic, changing a rape victim and not bothering with the psychological trauma the event and then the change caused on the blonde. Sulpicia didn't think the man could be any stupider, getting involved with Project Genesis and Aro's scheming was already pretty stupid, but then she sees things like this in other people's memories and she wonders who was dumb enough to change such a stupid man.

The majority of Rosalie's vampire life was boring, a repeating cycle of high school over and over and over again, though she did feel a vicious sense of glee with how creative the girl got when taking her revenge. Her hand tightened around Rosalie's throat when she got the first glimpse of her mate, a human Isabelle, _Bella_. She had seen some of the glimpses of _Bella_ through the fortuneteller's memories, though they were disjointed. Rosalie's were clear and complete, and filled with disdain and anger towards the awkward, bumbling human girl hanging around her family. The emotions had the queen tightening her grip even further, enjoying the girl's pained gasp. The queen in her acknowledged Rosalie's concerns, but the second that she met Isabelle, she became a mate first and a queen second.

She pushed her anger back and looked deeper into the psyche of Rosalie Hale. Sulpicia was surprised that Carlisle hadn't messed with her mind like he had with Alice. Reviewing the memories of the man in Rosalie's mind, it appears as if he tried to interfere with them, especially when she brought her mate, Emmett, to him to be changed but something prevented him from influencing her, not in that way anyway. The queen dropped Rosalie to the ground, a musing look etched on her face. It would seem that the blonde had a latent gift, one that Eleazar hadn't been able to detect. Nothing baffling or complex, and some might not define it as a gift, but Rosalie Hale has a strong sense of self-identity, something that she carried over with her from her human life. It might even be a result of the events surrounding her change, not wanting to let the people making decisions for her take who she was away from her. She always refused to use the Cullen name, and even refused to take her mate's last name when they married. This strong feeling, strong desire would prevent anyone from messing with her mind and memories and would partially block any emotional tampering from one Major Jasper Whitlock Cullen. She recalled notes in the horrendous book that Isabelle had brought with her, mentioning a blonde girl that did not meet with Carlisle and Esme's standards for a mate for Edward. She wondered if they referred to the blonde girl shaking slightly on the floor in front of her, and if her strong sense of self is what threw them off.

"It would do you wise to remember yourself Rosalie Hale," Sulpicia snarled down at her. "And to be careful about what you say concerning my mate."

"Your mate?" Rosalie croaked out, rubbing her neck as Emmett helped her off the floor.

"Yes, _my_ mate," the queen repeated carefully, a dark look on her face. She turned back and moved away slightly, taking a few of the steps up the dais. "Since it would seem that Carlisle has seen fit to lie to you as well, allow me to introduce ourselves and explain things to you." She gestured to her right, "My blonde sister, Queen Athenodora and her mate, Lord Caius, Captain of the guard. Dear Dora is known as the War Queen due to her blood thirsty nature and makes all decisions in matters of war." Athenodora flashed a smirk at the two vampires, showing her teeth and causing them to quiver where they stood. Sulpicia stifled back a laugh and gestured to her left, "My sister Queen Didyme and her mate Lord Marcus. Didyme is the Voluri historian and deals with our cultural matters and involvement in the human world while Marcus likes to be known as the castle minstrel, recording the history of the Volturi and any event that pleases him as epic poems and songs to play." The two members of the Cullen coven blinked in shock and Sulpicia did laugh at their expressions. "And last but not least, I am Sulpicia, High Queen of the Volturi, and this," she took the final steps up to her throne and knelt down, grasping one of Isabelle's hand in her own and placed open mouthed kisses on her fingers and palm. "This is my mate Isabelle, her status and title in our ranks still undecided." The dark queen turned her attention back to two before her, "I am the Judge here; I pass judgment and handle punishments for those that break the law."

Rosalie and Emmett gulped in fear. "And we've broken the law?" Emmett asked. Rosalie was unable to speak, fear had frozen her in place.

"Not yet," Sulpicia mused. "Your coven has threatened my mate, aiding in hurting her, and what do I find when reviewing your memories, peeking into your mind?" The answer was written on Rosalie's face so no one had to answer Sulpicia's question. "I've waited over 3,000 years for my mate only to find that when I have found her, there are those threatening to take her from me, what do you think I would do to those people in response to those threats?" Judging by the expressions on the two young vampires' faces, if they had been human they would have shit their pants.

"I do believe you've traumatized them sister," Athenodora laughed, "I couldn't have done it better myself."

"Now Dora," Didyme chided, "Why don't we see what the two want? They did barge in here in a snit after all."

The three queens turned their attention back to the Cullen coven members and noticed that they were staring at Isabelle. "Er, um," Rosalie stuttered, grasping for words. "My brother Jasper said that you had taken his mate, Alice, claiming that you had taken her for her gift. We came to get her back."

"Seems that your 'brother' believed that he was sending you here to your deaths," Sulpicia hummed. "If we were who I'm sure Carlisle portrayed us to be, his ploy would have worked, but we are more reasonable than Carlisle likes to think we are. He takes great joy in portraying us, or a facsimile of us, as villains of the vampire world. We can assure you that Alice came here of her own volition and is recovering in one of our guest rooms. Her mind has been greatly traumatized, you may stay with her if you wish, but any hints of hostility from either of you will be dealt with." The queen sent a harsh look at the two, "We won't kill you, but you might wish we would."

Athenodora snapped her fingers and gestured for one of the lower guard to escort the two to Alice's room and they left the room slowly, still quivering slightly. "Well that was fun," the blonde queen said. "It's been a while since Sulpicia has managed to scare someone that badly."

"Were they involved in what Carlisle and Esme were doing?" Didyme asked.

Sulpicia shook her head, "I don't think so, but I'll have to read the large one. Rosalie Hale seems to be the honest sort, as well as being overly hostile. Judging from her history, I doubt that she would aid in the hurting or harming of women. She also seems to have a partial gift that prevents her memories, emotions, and personality from being interfered with so I got an unadulterated view of life in the Cullen home." The queen crossed her eyes slightly, "Carlisle is an idiot of course, but we knew this. His mate is baffling me though, I'm not sure exactly what to make of her even though we know that she is also in this up to her eyebrows."

"She's mated to that moron, that's all I need to know about her," Athenodora snorted. "Though Hale and Cullen's appearance here means that we can definitely confirm that Whitlock is also involved in this. He knows that Alice is here and that we know, so he sent those two here as well."

"They're cleaning house, getting rid of evidence and witnesses to their crimes." Didyme sighed, "That indicates that they're preparing for something. Aro pulled his spy out of our midst and is calling in his allies, we best prepare ourselves."

Athenodora growled, "I hate being on the defensive. We need to go on the offensive, gain the upper ground."

"We can't do that without more information," Sulpicia pointed out, "We'll have to wait for Alice to sort herself out, she's our best bet for information though the large one, Emmett, he might know something without really knowing it."

"Does Alice have a mating bond with Whitlock?" Athenodora asked, leaning around to look at Marcus and Didyme. "It would be fairly impressive if she managed to circumvent it and come here."

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "She might as well have a mating bond with him. The bond was not quite the mating bond, but Whitlock marked her so if he dies, she'll be irreparably damaged."

"He's going to have to die, so we'll have to see about helping her as best as we can," Sulpicia sighed. "We can't do anything now though."

"I want to talk with them," Isabelle said suddenly, looking at where Rosalie and Emmett exited the room. "I remember Rosalie, she never really liked Bella. I have to say the feeling is mutual now, but I want to talk with them, alone." She mentioned the last bit while she looked straight at her mate, bright crimson eyes staring into burgundy.

Sulpicia's eyes narrowed but Isabelle stared back unflinching, causing the queen to sigh out an agreement. "One wrong word to you," she warned, "And I'm ripping their tongues out."

* * *

Unlike the first time she 'woke up,' Alice snapped into awareness, her mind feeling clear for the first time in decades. She instantly sat up in bed, and glanced around the room. "Alice!" Rosalie's voice registered in her mind and she turned her head, meeting her sister's dark caramel colored eyes. "Thank goodness Alice," the blonde said, sitting next to Alice on the bed. "We were worried when Jasper told us that the Volturi had taken you, what did they do?"

The words filtered into Alice's mind and she sorted through her memories to compare what Rosalie said to what she remembered. "I- No, that's not right, I came here voluntarily. Jasper was scaring me; I had to leave. I heard things, things he was doing, things he, Carlisle and Esme were doing. I knew they weren't right and I came to speak to the Volturi. You can imagine my surprise when I came here and found that Carlisle had lied to us about them this whole time."

"Yes, that shocked us too," Emmett mentioned, "Not enough to keep Rose from mouthing off though, nearly getting us both killed."

"How was I supposed to know that _she_ was the mate to one of the Volturi leaders?" Rose hissed out, "Last I checked, she was Edward's mate."

" _She_? You mean Bella, Isabelle?" Alice asked for clarification.

"You saw her?" Rosalie shrieked slightly, whirling around to look at her.

"Yes, but I haven't spoken with her, I wasn't well when I got here and I still wasn't well the last time I was awake," the pixie haired girl answered.

"What was wrong with you pixie sticks, if they didn't do anything to you?" Emmett questioned, his normally booming voice small and quiet.

Alice shrugged, "They told me that Carlisle drugged me, I'm not sure how though."

"That's ridiculous, how do you even drug a vampire…" Rose automatically said but her voice grew weaker throughout the statement as her mind involuntarily returned to a few moments early in her vampire life. Carlisle had approached her several times in her early years, bringing cups of animal blood when she couldn't be bothered to hunt. His face was frowning and concerned so she would take the blood and drink it, nearly gagging at the almost sour taste of the blood. She recalls the baffled looks that the man sent her after she had drank the blood but had brushed them off. Now Alice's words had her reexamining those interactions.

"You said that Jasper sent you here?" Alice asked, breaking Rosalie out of her thoughts.

"He called us," Emmett answered, "We were in France and he said that you disappeared while you were in New York and mentioned that the Volturi took you. The queens said that he sent us here to our deaths."

The smaller vampire considered the words and nodded her head. "That's probably what he was doing. He, Carlisle and Esme are involved in something bad and I overheard something I wasn't suppose to. I snuck away and came here as soon as I could to find help. You know the rest."

"Jasper, Carlisle and Esme?" Rosalie murmured, "Not Edward?"

Alice shrugged again, "I'm not sure. I feel like he is involved, but I don't know to what extent."

"Our family is falling apart, this is a nightmare." The blonde vampire let out a rush of air. "Do you think you can force a vision? Something that could help us?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Isabelle's voice cut through their bubble of conversation, startling the three vampires. None of them had heard the brunette open the door.

Rosalie bristled at the sight of the brunette but calmed when she remembered that the girl in front of her was not the wimpy wallflower hanging around her family. The woman in front of her was Isabelle, the mate of one of the Volturi queens, virtually untouchable.

"Best be glad that my mate effectively scared the shit out of you Rosalie Hale," Isabelle said, smirking at the blonde. "I'm becoming quite adept at using my own gift and it is not one that you would care to encounter." Purple sparks of lightning emerged from her fingers and a smoky black shadow swirling in the palm of her hand.

Rosalie and Emmett stared at her hands in horror while Alice looked at the darkness in fascination. The pixie haired brunette pulled her attention away from the swirl and looked at the woman that was once her best friend. "What did you mean? Not to look into the future?" She asked, her dark golden eyes searching crimson.

"It wouldn't help," Isabelle replied. "Before I came in here, my mate had a chat with Eleazar. He confirmed your gift wasn't so much seeing the future as it was seeing probabilities; that's why they call you a fortune teller. You see possible outcomes of the future, decisions, and take them as fact."

"And how wouldn't that help us in this case?" Rosalie asked, "Wouldn't it give us a clue as to what you are going to do to us?"

"Too many variables, Dora is most likely thinking of the worst thing possible to do to you," Isabelle replied. "Or Alice will get an eyeful of what she's planning to do to Caius later and trust me, that is not something you want roaming around your head for eternity."

Alice's eyes glazed over for a few seconds and her whole body shuddered as she came out of the vision. "Too late," she whispered, traumatized. "I didn't know whips could be used like that…"

Rosalie and Emmett looked at Alice horrified while Isabelle just rolled her eyes. "I tried to tell you not to look." The brunette shook her head and turned her attention to the other two members of the Cullen cove. "I came in here to speak with you actually, all three of you, to determine the extent of your knowledge of Carlisle and Esme Cullen's schemes."

"What do you mean schemes?" Rosalie asked, her eyes narrowed.

She gave the animal-drinkers a considering look before explaining everything she knew about the Cullens, what they did, and their involvement with the Genesis Project and Aro and Sasha. By the time she was finished, the three were staring at her with horrified expressions on their faces, appearing even more ashen than normal.

"Wha- Bel- are you sure?" Emmett asked.

"I, er, well Bella, got the files from Carlisle's office. The notes about what they were doing were handwritten. There were notations about many different human females, including myself and you Rosalie," Isabelle said, nodding at the blonde vampire. "It seems that they were keeping track of your life, trying to control it. They wanted you to be Edward's mate but deemed you an unsuitable candidate."

"Those, those bastards," Rosalie growled. She grabbed one of the extra chairs in the room and tossed it into the wall, breaking it into pieces. "If those bastards and that cunt had anything to do with what happened to me…"

While the blonde fumed and her mate tried to calm her, Isabelle turned to Alice. "I'm assuming that this is the reason why you came here?"

The pixie vampire shrugged, "I didn't know what was going on, I just knew that Jasper was doing something bad, that he was involved in something horrible. I heard him on the phone, talking to Esme. She was asking him about his progress hunting you… hunting Bella down and looking for other 'candidates.'" She had a disgusted look on her face, "I thought I knew him, knew them, turns out he really was a monster."

"Do you people, the Volturi," Rosalie started, interrupting them, "Do you have any idea what they're planning, any way to stop them from their plans?"

"We were hoping you would have an idea," Isabelle told them, "Anything they might have said or done that seemed odd?"

The three looked at each other, browsing through their memories of moments with Carlisle, Esme and Jasper. Most of the instances were normal, insignificant moments of a group of territorial vampires pretending to be a human family. "Wait," Emmett finally said after a few minutes of silence, "I do remember something, I didn't think it was important at the time so I didn't really pay attention, but I remember that Esme was looking at maps of Russia, some place in Siberia. I just brushed it off thinking that she was buying another vacation house but we never vacation in Russia, we've never been, almost like it was done on purpose."

The door burst open and Tanya stalked in seething, her eyes an angry glare as they fixated on Emmett. "Did you just say Siberia?" The Denali coven leader asked, grabbing the larger vampire by his shirt. When Emmett nodded hastily, Tanya released him and let out a loud growl. "Sasha, we're from Russia. She always loved the northern regions so I have no doubt that is where she and Aro decided to set up camp." Rather than lingering in the room, Tanya bolted back out the door. The voices of Irina and Kate could barely be heard in the hallway, followed by loud protests.

Sulpicia sauntered into the room a few moments later and Isabelle purred when she placed a soft kiss on her head. The queen briefly inhaled her mate's scent before turning her attention to the three rouge members of the Cullen coven. "I hear we have a possible location," she stated, staring at Emmett carefully. "I've already read your mate and your coven sister, would you permit me to read you as well?" She held out her hand and Emmett hesitated briefly, but eventually stretched out his hand, allowing Sulpicia to grasp his wrist. The queen filtered through fragmented human memories and disjointed moments during his early years as a vampire. It seemed that Carlisle tested his concoction on Emmett as well and it worked spectacularly but he must not have found any use for the mammoth like vampire and weaned him off the drug.

"You are quite proficient with computers," Sulpicia stated once she released his arm, giving him an assessing eye.

"Er, um, yes, yes I am," Emmett stuttered out, trying not to shrink back from her gaze.

"Good, you will work with Caius to find information and confirm this location. In this growing digital age, it is nearly impossible to hide anything," the queen said. "Although you three did not participate in the activities of your coven head, you were part of the coven and thus have to make amends for their crimes. You will help us with our problem and then you will be free to go."

"We want to help," Rosalie uttered firmly, "I want to help. They've done horrible things, to me, to Bella, to hundreds, if not thousands of women, they need to be stopped." There was a fire present in Rosalie's eyes as she spoke, her voice echoing with deep conviction.

"Very well Ms. Hale, just remember that it is justice we will be serving, not revenge," the queen replied, though her words were hollow.

Isabelle glanced around the room and noted that the other vampires didn't believe Sulpicia's words any more than she did. "Yeah," she said after a moment, "Justice."

* * *

"So," Aro started, eying the vampires in front of him distastefully. "Not only did you let one of our most promising members and your mate escape…" He gave Jasper a withering look, "But you led two of your other members right to her and they also escaped your grasp."

"Master Aro-" Carlisle started but Aro waved his hand, silencing him.

"Quiet Carlisle, you know that your mate has the most sense out of both of you." Aro shot Esme a leering stare, "Though, I'm not sure where here sense went when she let a promising female get away, one that was in your hands!" He grasped the caramel haired woman by her neck and lifted her off the ground. "What exactly were you thinking?"

"She," Esme croaked out, "Bella, she would have made a perfect mate for my son."

"I see, then why isn't she here with you?"

"Edward, he was becoming too obsessed with her, taking his attention away from us," the woman continued despite the tight grip on her throat. "No one will take my son from me."

Aro sneered and tightened his grip until he could hear her skin cracking before dropping the woman. "Seems like all of you are morons," he sighed, returning to his throne. He turned his attention to Carlisle before speaking again, "Young Edward is still under that drug you concocted?"

"Um, yes, makes him more complacent and he loses control of his gift. He ends up hearing all thoughts rather than being able to block them."

"Good, you will give him even more of these drugs, there are several humans I have here that I would like him to impregnate," Aro said dismissively.

Carlisle's eyes widened, "But Master Aro-"

"No, you three have screwed up enough," he stated firmly, a sneer etched on his face. "Esme, you said no one could take your son from you, well I just did. He is mine now, just as you three are, I will do as I please." He snapped his fingers and several large vampires came in and dragged the three protesting Cullens out of the room.

Aro let out a long suffering sigh before making his way out of the throne room and towards his private chambers. Opening the door, he smiled at the sight of his mate curled around their most recent child. Sasha's blonde hair acted as a curtain around her head as she bent her neck and sank her teeth into her child's neck. The little boy in her lap groaned and shrieked slightly but ignored the pain and weakness he felt as his mother drank from him, already use to the sensation in the few years he'd been alive.

"Hello my love," Aro greeted, kissing Sasha lightly on the head, ignoring the child. He had given his mate many children over the years, though he usually ended up disposing of them once they were full grown and of no interest to his mate any longer. She wanted children, not teenagers, not adults.

Sasha hummed a greeting before releasing the boy's neck, watching it seal slightly with the venom left over from her teeth. "Hello Aro," she said, turning her head to look at her mate. "Did the Cullens prove to be as incompetent of fools as we suspected?"

"Even more so my love," Aro sighed again and dropped onto the bed the two were sitting on. "Edward is in our grasp now though so he'll be producing some excellent hybrids with a few of the humans I've selected."

"Mhm," the blonde woman hummed. "Did those fools let _them_ find out?"

"Yes, dear Alec confirmed it and alerted us that Jane as defected. Apparently they have a new member that has a frightening gift, dear Sulpicia's mate. He couldn't tell me much about her though."

"What about your other spy?"

"Heidi? I believe she has defected as well, haven't heard from her in a while."

Sasha sneered, "Good, that means we can dispose of that simpering Hilda, gods that woman annoys me, can I be the one to kill her darling?"

"Oh course." Aro pushed back some hair from her face, trying not to frown as he felt the boy reach out at poke at him. He brushed away the incessant hands with a well-placed slap, causing the child to flinch away. Sasha paid no mind to the actions of her mate, content to have a child for the moment.

"What shall we do about _them_ Aro?" She asked, hugging the child closer to her. "You know they will come for us, ruin our plans, the work we have been doing."

Aro sat up next to his mate and embraced her. "We will just have to move up our time-table my love. We will destroyed them and rule this world, rid it of the majority of human filth." A dark look crossed Aro's eyes, "The same filth that came after both of us when we were human. The humans, _them,_ they'll all be gone."

"Queen Sasha does have a nice ring to it," the blonde woman sighed.

"You will be Queen my love, I promise you that."

* * *

 **A/N:** I know people will send messages about that last part, but I've always thought Sasha to be incredibly selfish, deranged and short sighted. She purposefully created an immortal child, knowing it was against the law, knowing it was wrong, but did it anyway. Here, she found a way around, but she wanted a child, hybrids don't stay children. She would grow bored with them when they grew up, Aro would dispose of them and then he would 'make' her a new child. They are twisted and disturbed.

 **Review please**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** Ugh, it was awful, writers block. I was suspecting that this might be the last chapter, which was tripping me up, but then I was able to fight through the block and I think I have at least one more chapter. Along with an epilogue probably, but definitely at least one more chapter. I'm hoping to try to finish this story before I update Beyond the Forge again since those stories exist in a different headspace.

I've also been working on several Supergirl stories, one I posted on FF with an Olympics theme, but others I'm going to be posting on Ao3.

Some trigger warnings for this chapter, there is rape mentioned, nothing explicit, but it is discussed. I'm mainly addressing the definition of rape and some preconceptions I've encountered via conversations with people in my life and stuff like that. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can skip those sections and go straight to the bottom.

 **Review please!**

 **Posted: October 24th, 2016**

 **Chapter 17**

Sulpicia, Athenodora, and Didyme were gathered in the blonde queen's office, usually deferring to her leadership in matters of war. The intercom on Dora's phone buzzed and Gianna's voice came through the speakers. "I apologize for the interruption my queens, but a package has been delivered for Heidi. There is a note with it but no return address, what shall I do with it?"

The three looked at each other for a moment before replying. "We'll take it Gianna," Athenodora answered, "Demetri will retrieve it from you."

"Of course my queen." The human's voice disappeared and Demetri was summoned from the hallway and sent after the package.

"Someone sent Heidi a package, that doesn't sound good," Sulpicia murmured. "What are the chances it is something sinister?"

"Unless she's been shopping online again," Dora muttered.

"Dora," Didyme chided, "They usually include a return address. I'm betting that this is a gift from my fucked up brother."

"That's what I was thinking," Sulpicia agreed. Demetri returned with the package and the dark queen sent him off to collect Heidi from her room.

"What do you want to bet that your mate and Maggie were in the room with Heidi and that Isabelle will be coming here with her?" The blonde queen questioned, looking at her oldest sister dryly. It was only a few minutes later when Athenodora's words were confirmed when the brunette newborn strolled through the door in front of a still sullen Heidi. Since Chelsea had snapped the bond to her sire a few days previous, the mahogany haired guard had been despondent, trying to recover from the pain of having the bond destroyed.

"Yes my queens?" Heidi asked in a shaky voice, leaning against her brunette sister for support.

"We have received a package addressed to you, no return address," Sulpicia said, handing over the box. "We suspect it is nothing dangerous but that does not mean it isn't nefarious all the same."

Heidi glanced down and the box and carefully ripped off the tape, opening the package. She found a note inside addressed to her and flipped open the paper. A distressed look crossed her face and she looked inside the box again, spotting a small container. "It's ashes," she replied hoarsely, "Hilda's ashes." Her tone was blank and while she had no bond to the other woman anymore, her heart still ached for the woman she once knew. Isabelle embraced her while Didyme carefully took the box from the other woman, handing the note to her oldest sister. The mahogany haired guard stared on blankly as the three queens glanced at the note and opened the canister in the box, confirming the vampire ashes inside.

"I'm so sorry Heidi," Isabelle whispered, looking at the older vampire mournfully.

"It's alright, I'm alright," Heidi corrected. "I haven't seen her in a long time and the bond is no longer there. Doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would, her death. I only mourn for the woman I remember, the woman who saved me."

"She seemed like a good person."

Heidi smiled sadly, "She had her moments."

The queens, while concerning themselves with the note Aro had left Heidi and the ashes of the kindest vampires any of them had known, followed the conversation the guard and Isabelle were having. "With this… notification from Aro," Sulpicia started, getting the two's attention, "It is safe to say that he knows that we know about him and his plot. The element of surprise has been lost to us, if we ever had it."

Athenodora sighed and leaned back in her chair with a huff, "Even if we sent scouts to look for them, they would be caught and therefore useless to us." She kicked her feet up on the desk and sighed.

"Must you put your feet on the desk so, sister?" Didyme asked with a frown on her face.

"It's my desk, I'll do what I want."

"It'll ruin the wood!"  
"It's just a desk woman, leave it alone!"

Sulpicia rubbed her forehead in irritation at her sisters. She had vague recollections of headache pains, and knew that if she could still get them, the two would give her constant headaches. "Sisters," she groaned out. "Focus. We need to decide on what to do. We are basically stuck; do we wait for them to attack us? Endangering all of the humans that live in Volterra, or do we go for them, possibly giving them the advantage?"

The blonde queen hummed and tapped her foot on the desk, partly to enrage her sister. "Neither," she said suddenly. "We need to meet them on neutral ground. Attempting to attack them on their turf would be suicide, and waiting for them here is foolhardy."

"And neutral territory is better?" Sulpicia questioned.

"Well, when it's in our favor it is," Dora replied. "We need to scout for a good spot, and then draw the bastard and his minions out."

"How are we going to draw them out though?" Sulpicia questioned. "Aro may be a bastard, but never say that he is stupid. He'd sniff out a trap in a few minutes and any spies we'd send."

The blonde queen opened her mouth to reply when a few sharp knocks sounded on the door. Isabelle let go of Heidi and trotted to the door, revealing Peter and Charlotte on the other side. "I was alerted of a problem," Peter said with a grin, sauntering into the room, "And I think I know a way to get to that bastard Aro."

"Your gift annoys me sometimes," Dora groused, rolling her eyes. "Okay, let's have it, what did you come up with?"

"Well, we figure that Aro will be able to spot a trap from a mile away basically, and any spy. Would he have such an easy time spotting a spy that wasn't a vampire though? Someone that leaves no trace and can implant suggestions to get him to do things."

The occupants of the room looked at Peter like he had grown another head. "I don't know if you've noticed Peter, the only ones with the ability to do such things work for the other side," Didyme pointed out, wondering if the knower-of-all-things-to-know had finally lost it.

Peter smirked, "Yes, but vampires aren't the only supernatural creatures in the world, as we well know." He turned his attention to Sulpicia, "Your mate has met who I speak of, though only briefly. He's an old friend and would probably be willing to help us."

Sulpicia turned to Isabelle who just shrugged. "I just got memories of my human life back a few days ago. Haven't really had time to sort through them all yet."

"My friend is the one who helped you get your papers and money to leave the country," Peter supplied, hoping it would click in her mind.

And it did. "Mr. Elder?" The brunette asked, searching through her memories. "He was… odd, never did say who, or what, he was. He's definitely not a vampire though."

"If he's not a vampire, then what is he?" Athenodora asked, her patience running thin. Her curiosity was the only thing saving the Captain's life right now.

Peter shrugged, "I don't know, I've never asked. He's been a big help over the years though."

The blonde queen ground her teeth in annoyance. "How are we supposed to trust him with this if we don't even know what he is?"

"With what?"

The occupants of the room turned to look at the foreign voice and found a older, lanky man in a three piece suit with dark hair hanging over his ears and piercing gray eyes. He was sitting drinking a cup of tea without a care in the world, as if he didn't suddenly appear in a room full of hostile vampires. "Mr. Elder?" Isabelle murmured, shifting through her fuzzy memories, "Oh, Ben."

"Ms. Beaulieu," the being greeted with a nod of his head before turning a stern gaze to the southern captain. "Whitlock."

"Ben!" Peter cried, his arms open wide as if to hug the other being. "How ya doing buddy?"

Ben rolled his eyes, "Fine, and it's Mr. Elder to you."

"But you let Isabelle call you Ben," Peter pouted, lowering his arms.

"Because I actually like Ms. Beaulieu."

Athenodora made an annoyed sound that was half way between a screech and a sigh, halting the banter between the two. "Now that I have your attention," the blonde queen sickly sweet tone alerted those in the room that she was fully out of patience, "Might we get back to the topic at hand?"

"What exactly is the topic at hand?" Ben asked, a sculpted eyebrow perfectly and heartbreakingly rose in a questioning manner.

They quickly explained about Aro, Sasha, Carlisle and Esme and what they were plotting. Peter then picked up the explanation and told Ben exactly what he wanted him to do. "You can't be serious," Didyme said at hearing Peter's words, "That will never work."

Dora just hummed and leaned back in her seat. "No," she said, "It could work. With a bit of luck and as long as Ben here manages to do the job." She gave the being a hard look, "You can do the job can't you?"

"In theory," Ben grumbled. "I haven't done anything like it though, not to this scale anyway." He stood up and his teacup vanished. "I don't like what you tell me of this Aro person anway. I need to know exactly where this hideout is though in order to get there." Sulpicia handed the… man… a map of where they've managed to determine Aro is hiding and Ben grimaced. "I hate the cold," he sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

"You won't be going alone," Isabelle stopped him before he could disappear. "I have a friend who is a type of… well, she's a ghost, she can probably help, and she hates the Cullens."

"Ghosts can be pretty vengeful," Ben nodded in understanding, not at all faded by the revelation of a ghost.

"Right… So I need to contact her or contact someone who would know how to reach her…" Leah also appearing out of nowhere interrupted Isabelle.

"I'm here, don't worry about it," Leah said, brushing the brunette off. "I've been hanging around because I already visited the other shifter tribes, and let me tell you, they are boring, so boring. You guys are much more interesting."

"How much have you been watching?" Heidi asked, breaking out of her grief to rejoin the conversation.

Leah smirked, "Enough to know that blonde queenie here is one kinky bitchy. I didn't realize a whip could be used in such a… creative manner."

Athenodora smirked as well, "Why thank you, I pride myself on my creativity."

The bloodwolf chuckled before turning her attention back to Heidi, "I also heard about everything that happened with your sire, I'm so sorry."

"Leah," Sulpicia groaned out, "Why were you stalking us?"

"I told you, I was bored," she replied. "By the way, Bells, your mate, super hot. I've never really been turned on by a woman, but when she did that tongue thing-"

"I demand you stop talking," Sulpicia muttered out. Leah just shrugged and Isabelle pulled her over. The two started whispering with Heidi, all of them giggling and looking over at the dark queen. "It's not like we're on the brink of war or anything like that," she grumbled out and her sisters snickered at her.

"It's a way to deal with stress sister, do keep calm," Didyme said, placing a hand on her older sister's arm.

"We do need them to focus though, ladies!" Athenodora clapped her hands, gaining their attention, "Since Leah was already here, off she goes with Ben and we can get this show on the road. It's been a while since I've killed someone."

"It's barely been a month since you killed those crazy wolves in Spoons…"

"Forks," Didyme supplied her older sister.

"Forks, yes."

Athenodora gasped, "It's been that long? I'm losing my touch. Ghost! Imp! Off to Russia you go!"

"I'm not an imp," Ben muttered, sipping at his tea that had reappeared in his hands.

"I'm technically not a ghost either," Leah added before glancing over at Ben. "Who's the suit?"

"That's Ben," Isabelle told her, "He's… well, he's Ben, technically he's a friend of Peter."

"Acquaintance," Ben corrected.

"Peter's the cowboy that like's for his mate to spank him in bed right?"

"Dam- what, no!" Peter protested as Charlotte snickered.

"Vampires are kinky."

"We really don't have time for this," Sulpicia sighed, giving Ben a pointed look. "Find Aro and these people, get them out of whatever hole they've crawled in, and implant suggestions to go to a place of our choosing." She paused for a moment as she thought. "I'm thinking Finland, some of the areas are pretty remote because of the weather so it should be perfect."

"We're doing what now?" Leah asked, looking from the vampire queen to the man still drinking his tea.

"Possibly a wild goose chase, or causing trouble." Ben rolled his eyes, "I imagine we'll find out when we get there. Are you able to follow and teleport in your spirit-like form?"

Leah rolled her eyes in response, "Of course, I'm not incompetent."

"Then follow me." Ben disappeared, almost as if he wasn't there to begin with.

"What a show off," Leah muttered before disappearing in a wisp of smoke.

Nobody said anything for a few minutes before Athenodora let out a groan. "They're going to get themselves killed…"

"If it makes you feel any better sister, technically Leah is already dead," Didyme pointed out.

"What are we going to do Cia?" Isabelle murmured out, moving closer to her mate, "While Ben and Leah are trying to get Aro to do what we want."

Sulpicia turned her attention from her sisters to her mate and smiled bitterly. "We're going to prepare for war," she replied, "As best as we can."

* * *

"So this is like some evil villain hideout." Leah walked around with an unimpressed look on her face as she surveyed her surroundings. "I'm kind of disappointed, this looks more like somewhere Superman would lock himself in self-imposed condemnation."

"Who?"

Leah gave the being an unimpressed look, "I'm dead and I'm telling you to get a life."

Ben rolled his eyes and ignored the bloodwolf. "I'm going to look for Aro, Sasha and the Cullen parents. You go… do whatever it is that you do." He disappeared and Leah was left rolling her eyes.

"Do whatever it is that you do, he said," Leah bitched, "Go with this creepy old dude, they said, save the day, they said. Annoying vampires." The bloodwolf huffed and muttered to herself as she stalked through icy halls, unseen by any that she passed. "Bunch of freaky bloodsuckers here," she commented as she observed the hybrids wander the halls, their eyes blank and glassy. The woman peeked into side rooms, searching for a particular target and grimaced when she saw vampires, the normal kind of leaches, latched onto the necks of the hybrids. "Bunch of freaks."

Leah continued to wander the halls, peering into rooms and down corridors, observing more acts of debauchery and perversion. She found a room where female hybrids where spread out on multiple beds throughout the room and male vampires where pounding away on top of them, grunting and moaning while the women were perfectly still. It was almost as if they were malleable dolls. Leah was confused as to why this was happening until she found another room where more female hybrids were arranged to display their growing bellies. They were being used as living wombs, but their minds were gone. Leah's mouth curled in disgust. They were living and breathing, as much as part vampires could, but their minds were dead.

"If Sulpicia and Bells don't kill these guys, I'm going to do it myself," Leah muttered darkly as she continued to move through the complex. It was in one of the last rooms that she found her target, and it wasn't what she was expecting.

"What are you doing?" Ben asked, appearing behind her. "I already found the targets and implanted the appropriate suggestions."

"I've been looking around," Leah bit back, turning around to look at him, "Doing whatever it is that I do. This place is messed up. I found who I was looking for though." She gestured behind her towards one Edward Cullen lying sprawled out on a table completely naked with multiple women moving on top of him. The bronze haired vampire had a glazed expression on his face, much like the women in the room. "Is it rape if neither party fully knows what they're doing?" Leah mused, observing the scene idly.

"It is rape if consent is not expressly given, but in this case the rapist is the one that did this to them," Ben answered. "I should've done worse to those bastards in charge. I hope they die painful deaths."

"We can kill them now," Leah suggested, a glint in her eyes. "We're already here, I mean, might as well right?"

"I can't kill anyone and it really isn't your place to kill them. You oversee the shifters, you can't interfere too much with other species, not to the point of killing them anyway, not when shifters aren't involved."

The bloodwolf let out a growl, "Fine, whatever. I guess it is better justice if creepy Italian vampires kill them anyway." She turned her eyes back to the room and grimaced, "What do we do about them? Dickward might be a prick but he doesn't deserve this. From what I remember hearing around town, he was a virgin prude." She scrutinized the scene, "If he's been alive as long as he has and hasn't given it up in all of that time, it means he's been hanging onto it for a reason." Unseen to any in the room, she knocked out all of the occupants in the room other than Edward who continued to stare at the ceiling in a daze. "Can you do something that?" She sighed in exasperation, her nose crinkling in disgust at the naked vampire.

Ben snapped his fingers and the bronze haired boy was instantly clothed. He approached the table and analyzed the prone vampire before snapping his fingers again, this time in front of Edward's face. The vampire snapped out of his daze, his eyes focusing on the man in front of him. "Who are you?" He tried to demand but his voice came out groggy and rough. "Where… where am I?"

"Can you make yourself visible now?" Ben asked, turning to Leah. "I don't want to explain this."

Leah rolled her eyes and flickered a moment before making herself visit. "Don't yell," she said, narrowing her eyes at the vampire. "I have no problem roasting off your tiny dick if you yell. I'm Leah, I was one of those, what you would call 'mutts' on the La Push reservation. He," she said, motioning to Ben, "is an ass. And as for where you are, you are in a secret lair basically, run by a bunch of crazy people, your delightful parents included. When I found you, you were basically being raped by a bunch of women." She gestured to the women laying on the floor, "They didn't know what they were doing of course, but you were being used as a sperm donor for freaky vampire babies. Your parents volunteered you to their psycho leader as a sperm bank."

"You're…" Edward swallowed, "You're lying."

Leah shrugged, "Look around, investigate for yourself. You read minds right? Go read some minds."

"How do you know he reads minds?" Ben asked, looking at the girl suspiciously.

"I don't have much to do now that I'm mostly dead so I snoop, spy on people," Leah answered. "You really should watch Athenodora and Caius having sex sometime, it is an enlightening experience. Man the things I missed out on, I should've had Sam lick my boots when I had the opportunity, that is sexy as hell."

"Stop, stop, please stop," Edward pleaded, jamming his hands over his ears. "I didn't need to hear that, or see that, that is filthy. What a depraved mind you have, you should be ashamed of yourself."

The bloodwolf shrugged, "I'm mostly dead, I don't really care. Why am I still here?" With that, she disappeared, leaving Ben to stare after her in irritation and Edward in horror.

"Believe us or don't believe us," the being said, turning back to the vampire. "It doesn't matter. Just know that your parents and their master will be facing judgment for their crimes." The man also disappeared, but rather than a swirl of smoke simply fading away like Leah, he just vanished. Gone in an instant, between the periods when one second ended and another began.

Edward blinked and sat up, looking around the room. He didn't know where he was; the last he remembered was breaking up with Bella and leaving her in the woods. Who knows how long it has been since then. A day, two? A month, a year? His head felt clouded and there was a dull throb that reminds him of migraines that humans suffer. Why would he have a migraine? He took note of the women lying around him on the floor and could hear their heartbeats. A sense of dread filled him as he took note of their partial nudity. Those two, they couldn't be right. His parents knew how much waiting until marriage meant to him, they wouldn't do this to him.

He slowly maneuvered himself off the table, frowning at the steel examination table. Everything was so blank, so sterile; it felt so impersonal, so cold. Edward walked out of the room hesitation and dread slowing his steps. Horror surged through his body as he walked down the halls, peering in rooms only to find further atrocities and depravities, amoral behavior ranking some of the vilest sins. Even at his lowest, drinking from humans, filth of the world, he had never committed such acts that he was viewing. The truth was in front of him, taunting him. His brain was telling him to accept what he was seeing, what the two had told him, but he couldn't, not yet, he needed confirmation from his parents, from the one who changed him and taught him values. Absentmindedly his hand grabbed an item off from one of the rooms, part of him acknowledging that he might need it soon.

His steps were slow and his eyes wide by the time he finally located his parents. Edward followed their scents to a room on the other side of the complex from where he had been kept. His father, his sire, was kneeling on the floor before an ornate, black throne. His mother, dear sweet Esme, was standing next to him, a tight hand fisted in his hair. A tall vampire with long black- hair and cloudy, milk red eyes was seated before them in the throne. "Esme, Carlisle," Edward whispered, attracting their attention. The three glanced back at him, their eyes growing wide at seeing him.

"Edward," Esme gasped, releasing Carlisle's hair.

"What have you done?" The bronze-haired vampire demanded. His mind was bombarded with thoughts from the three, each revealing their shock at seeing him awake and out of the hypnotic state they had placed him in. He saw the truth in their minds, what they were doing to him, using him for and reeled back. "What _have_ you done?"

"Please son," Carlisle started, standing up, "You have to understand. What we're doing, what we've done, it's to improve the vampire world, make it better. Just image, vampires that don't have to kill humans or animals, it would free us from the constraints of our species, allow us to integrate further."

"Those women, all those women, you've been using me to impre-" Edward couldn't even finish the sentence.

Aro tisked, "Not only you boy, others have stepped up to offer themselves for the cause. The women are vessels given birth to a new, better species of vampire, one that will sustain those of us who will survive the cleansing."

Edward finally recognized Aro from the painting that Carlisle kept and he gulped. "Cleansing?"

"Yes my dear boy," the man replied, a giddy madness in voice. "We're going to cleanse the vampire world of all who don't agree with us, those who oppose us. There are those of us that wish us to hide from the humans, why should we when we are superior to them in every way?" He stepped down from his throne, gesturing wildly with his hands, "Why should those who have kept us firmly implanted in the old ways, old traditions hold us back from achieving our full potential? These women and male vampires, such as yourself, were chosen to bring forth a new species to help us achieve our goal, part-human, part-vampire." He laughed, a sound that sparked shivers to race up and down Edward's spine. "These hybrids will help us destroy all those who stand against us and will provide us with their blood and venom to feed us and we will continue to use them to create more and more hybrids."

The bronze-haired vampire looked at his father in horror, "Carlisle…"

"Yes son, this is the future, this is our vision." The blond man beamed proudly, "And you, my son, will be the father of many of our gifted hybrids. Some of which will be birthed within the week."

Edward stumbled back in shock, stunned at hearing the truth from his own father's mouth. "How could you?" He demanded, "You knew how much it meant to me to save myself for my mate, how could you do this? How could you let him," he pointed wildly at Aro, "How could you let him rape me?"

"It wasn't rape Edward," Esme cooed, "You consented."

"With hypnotic trickery," he continued, "that is not consent, that he rape."

Aro looked at Edward with disdain, "Do man up Edward, it was not rape, you are a man."

The mind-reader shook his head, unable to fully comprehend the thoughts bombarding his mind. "How could you?" He whispered again, his voice hoarse. "What will my mate think of me…"

"We will find you a good mate Edward," Esme said, "We've been trying to do so for years but none of them were acceptable, we will keep trying. Maybe you'll like one of the hybrids that will be born? You may have your pick of them."

He couldn't fully comprehend what his mother was saying to him, but her thoughts told the tale. Stories of how he had fallen for humans, interacted with them, and they, Carlisle and Esme, kept track of them, stalked them, assessed their worth. They would dispose of them when it didn't seem as if the mating bond was taking hold. So many human lives ended over the years since he's been a vampire, so many innocent lives.

"Master Aro, Edward has gone missing," Jasper yelled out, barging in through another door. He stopped short seeing the vampire in question standing in the room.

"You too Jasper," Edward muttered.

"Ah, yes, thank you Jasper for your timely observation," Aro remarked, rolling his eyes at the curly haired vampire before turning back to the mind reader. "So what do you say Edward? Join us, willing this time of course, and accept your place in the new order."

Edward stared at the group in front of him, his mind blank but whirling. He felt nothing, absolutely nothing. He thought for a moment that it was Jasper's doing but he saw that the other vampire was looking at him in confusion. What they had done, what they all had done to him, made him do, it was unforgiveable. "No," he whispered. Before they could react to his words, he had clawed at his own chest, opening gaping wounds. He lifted his pilfered prize from earlier, a simple lighter, and set himself ablaze, still feeling absolutely nothing as he felt flames eating away at him for the second time in his life. He heard Carlisle and Esme yell out his name, and he just smiled as the fire consumed him.

Aro let out a growl as his best donor vampire burned himself in front of him, Carlisle and Esme staring at the spot in shock. Jasper simply snorted. "I knew he was weak," the major stated, staring disdainfully at the scorch mark on the floor.

The dark haired vampire turned his gaze to the warrior and his snapped his fingers. "Alec," he summoned, calling for the lone witch twin that remained loyal to him. The boy appeared a few seconds later, almost as if he were only a whisper away.

"Yes Master?"

"Take Jasper, he will replace Edward," he stated, causing Jasper to screech at him and for Alec to quickly trap him in his gift before dragging the veteran out of the halls. Aro's mood brightened some at hearing the protests falling from Jasper's mouth as he was helpless to stop the witch twin that carted him away. "Now," Aro said, turning back to Esme and Carlisle. "While this has been upsetting, we still have one question to answer. How did he wake from his 'sleep'?"

* * *

 **A/N:** So, poor Edward. I didn't want to make him a villain in this one since he didn't seem like a villain. Just misguided, confused and taken advantage of. I'm really sorry about the long gap between updates, my life has basically been a mess recently and I'm just now trying to sort it out.

 **Review please**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Ugh, I am so sorry guys. I was so, so stuck on this story, it was only coming out in bursts and I got really frustrated with it. It was basically keeping all of the other stories for this fandom on hold because it was like nope, I refuse to be written, nope nope. Anyway, this is the last chapter because I always planned on it being the last chapter and I don't think I have another one in me for this story.

I feel like this chapter is crappy, read at your own risk, I was pretty desperate to finish.

Update: April 16, 2017

 **Chapter 18**

Footsteps echoed through the room and she looked up from her place on the floor. The shackles that chained her arms and legs to the floor rattled as she shifted slightly, her eyes trained on the cell door, wariness evident in her gaze. The footsteps stopped and she could make out the form of a woman in the darkness, her eyes still blearily from the lack of blood. "Oh good," the woman said, "You're awake, I wasn't sure if you would be or not."

"Who are you?" She rasped out, trying to focus her eyes.

The woman stepped into her line of sight and move close enough for her to see clearly and a hand gripped at her hair. She stared wide-eyed into the dark red eyes of the vampire in front of her, her brain supplying the name to go with the face only a few seconds later: Sulpicia, one of the queens of the Volturi. "What do you want?" She asked a different question, only for it to come out as a croak due to the lack of blood in her system.

She felt the hand in her hair shift slightly to get a better grip and the queen's other hand came up to cup her cheek. Nails bit into her skin, but she didn't flinch, didn't wince, she had not reason to anymore, no physical pain this woman could cause would even compare to what she already felt. "You were trying to hurt my mate," Sulpicia said finally, her eyes dark and dangerous. She shook her head, no she would remember if she did that. "Don't lie, I see everything _Victoria,"_ the queen sneered. "You stalked my mate, hunted her, blamed her for something she wasn't responsible for because she was the weak link. She was the easy target."

It came filtering back, slowly, fragmented, but everything came back. Her mate, the game, those stupid vegetarians vampires, and that human, she could remember stalking the girl, the torn mating bond causing madness to settle in her mind, letting a haze descend over her clouded memories. "She… she killed my mate," Victoria rasped out, doing her best to sound more like a hiss than a pitiful whimper.

Sulpicia's grip tightened, her nails digging into the skin of Victoria's face. "She did not kill you mate," the woman hissed, hers far more successful, "She was human at the time and not responsible for the actions of your mate choosing to hunt her at the request of a narcissist. You chose to go after her because you are a coward and picked her as your target rather than the large coven actually responsible for the death of your mate." The queen released her completely and shoved the woman away. "You're pathetic."

"Why are you down here speaking to me then if I'm so pathetic," the redhead bit out, struggling to right herself with the heavy chains hindering her movement.

The queen was silent, staring out in the dungeons rather than looking at the vampire crumpled on the floor. "Do you know of my gift?" She asked, seemingly ignoring Victoria's question. "I can see into your mind with a single touch, everything you've ever done, everything you've ever been through, everything you've ever thought, nothing is hidden from me." She circled around the collapsed vampire, nudging her lightly with her foot. "My sister can see bonds, she's seen your broken mating bond and the fractured bond to your coven. I could see the madness descending over your mind, the price of losing your mate."

"What's it to you?" Victoria spat out, "You won't let me get my revenge, kill your precious little mate, what do I have to live for? My mate is dead, my heart and soul are rotting in my body as we speak. I can't have revenge, just kill me."

"I thought about it," Sulpicia admitted, "I thought about just ending your life. But my mate asked for a second chance for you, the chance to get your revenge on those truly responsible for your mate's death."

"What do you mean?" The redhead asked suspiciously, pushing herself off the ground to properly look at the queen.

"The Cullens." Victoria stiffened, a weak growl building in her throat. "Yes, exactly, we've found them. They've been working for my manipulative, psycho ex-husband, cooperating with the horrible schemes he's been working on. We're going to war, if you agree to leave my mate alone, you may come with us and take them out yourself."

The younger vampire stared thoughtfully up at the queen before nodding her head. "I will agree to your terms if you agree to one of mine. If I survive this battle, then you must kill me, I can't… I can't keep living like this."

Sulpicia agreed to Victoria's request. "It would be cruel to force you to continue living with your severed mating bond. My mate wishes you to have a second chance, but I will explain it to her that this is how it is meant to be." The queen nodded her head at the imprisoned vampire, "I will send down one of my guards with blood. You have a few days before we attack, we have to move quickly or they will slither away like the snakes they are."

The queen stalked out of the dungeons, leaving the red-haired woman dreaming of revenge as she was chained in her cell. Sulpicia paused her steps just outside her chambers where her mate was waiting for her. She knew that her young mate wanted the woman to have another chance at life, to break away from who she was, but it was impossible. It was impossible for a vampire to carry on if their mates had passed; they would be driven into a rage to slay the ones responsible for their death or would immediately seek death themselves. For Victoria to have lasted as long as she has points to an incredible amount of determination, and Sulpicia was partially disappointed. If she had been anyone else, she would've wanted them for the guard. Hunting her mate though, that was unforgivable. No, she would gladly grant the woman death, tearing her apart and lighting each piece on fire, but she would have to explain why to her mate.

"Isa-" Sulpicia started as she opened the door befor noticing that the room was devoid of a 'living' presence. She stared around the room in confusion for a moment before closing the door again and heading towards the one other place her mate could be, Heidi's chambers. The queen had just crossed into a different wing in the castle when she saw her mate barreling towards her down the hallway, a furious expression etched on her face. Sulpicia grabbed the brunette before she could continue down the hallway passed her unseeingly and pulled her into a nearby room. The quarters were empty having belonged to a guard that was disposed of decades before so a layer of dust was caked on the floor and furniture.

Sulpicia didn't have to wait long before the younger vampire finally imploded. "Those, those imbeciles," Isabelle seethed, her crimson eyes darkening. "I can't believe they're just going to hide with their heads in the sand and not do anything."

"Whom are we talking about?"

"The Cullens!" The brunette spat out, "The ones that are here anyway, Rosalie, Emmett and Alice. I went told them that we're probably going to be going to war and rather than agreeing to fight with us, they're going to stay here and avoid the whole thing!"

The dark Queen just hummed and nodded her head, "I expected this."

"What?'

"Isabelle," Sulpicia purred, running her fingers through brunette strands, "They have no other choice, I doubt they would have been able to fight. Carlisle is Rosalie and Emmett's sire, and the third one, Jasper, he's Alice's mate. If he dies, she will seek death to join him, so she wouldn't have fought against him. As for the other two, they seem more like pacifists really, and probably wouldn't have been able to go against their sire when the time came."

"Those… those people have done such horrible things, how can they just do nothing?"

"I've lived through history where people did nothing as tyrants took over and horrible things happened around them," the older vampire replied, "It is sadly a trait that vampires retain from our human lives." Isabelle just hummed, her face still pinched in a crossed expression. "There's something else," Sulpicia started, knowing that she best tell her mate Victoria's request while the brunette was already upset. "The nomad, Victoria, she agreed to fight but only if we kill her if she doesn't fall in battle."

The younger vampire glanced up at her mate for a moment before looking away and nodding her head. "I suspected that," she whispered, "Don't get me wrong, I'm unhappy and I believe she deserves to live but even I recognize she doesn't want that."

"What caused the change of heart?" Sulpicia questioned, "I know you were adamant that she was to live."

Isabelle smiled sadly, "I imagined if I was in her place, I imagined if it was you that died. I would tear apart the vampire who did it and burn them before tossing myself in the blaze. So I can understand her, even just a little."

"It'll be alright Isabelle," the queen murmured, pulling her mate in close so the girl could tuck her head in under her chin. "I promise, everything will be alright. We'll both come out of this alive."

"But can you promise that everyone is going to come out alive?" Isabelle whispered, a haunted look on her face.

Sulpicia sighed, "I can't promise that. It is another unfortunate aspect of our long lives Belle, we must come to grips with the fact that we will lose those we care about at some point, especially with how vicious our world is."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Isabelle murmured, her lips brushing against Sulpicia's neck.

"All I can promise you precious is that you and I will survive this confrontation," the queen promised. "Because as much havoc you would visit on the one who brought me down, I would burn this entire world if anything were to happen to you, this I promise you."

* * *

Aro paced in front of his throne, a frantic urgency present in his movement. Something has been off, wrong for weeks, something that was just out of his grasp. Ever since Edward killed himself nearly a month ago, it had been nagging at him, pulling at his mind. How did the boy take out of his control? It was a great loss for his work, not only losing the potential for Edward to continue to reproduce using the chosen vessels, but also Carlisle had been inconsolable and was virtually useless to him. Esme was far more useful, vicious, never had a more accurate portrayal of Lady MacBeth graced the stage than the caramel haired woman's entire being. He wouldn't be surprised if she was Lady Macbeth in a former life.

The woman was spitting fire, looking for someone to blame for her beloved son's death; she fully believed that Edward wasn't to blame for his actions that someone had forced him to do what he did. Aro ignored her for the most part; while he was displeased that the foolish boy killed himself, the empath Jasper was a tolerable replacement, an improvement in some areas. The scarred vampire was much more tolerable, and easier to control by manipulating his empathy abilities. Forcing an emotional cocktail of lust and compliance on the unruly vampire had him docile and using the vessels for hours.

Something was still off though, something nagging at him, almost as if he had forgotten something… His train of thought was interrupted by one of his hybrids running into the room. "Ma-master," he squeaked out panting. "W-we, um, the scouts, they've…"

"Stop sputtering and speak!"

"We've received word, the Volturi, they're mobilizing. The spies believe they may be coming here," the hybrid finished, shrinking back a little at the dark look on Aro's face.

"And how did they find us?" The older vampire hissed out, his arm flashing to grab the hybrid by his neck and squeezed.

"They-they don't know," he gasped out, clutching at the arm.

Aro let out a growl and tightened his grip around the throat in his grasp, hearing a sickening crack. He leaned forward and sucked the blood and venom out of the dying hybrid before tossing his body to the ground. "Get rid of that," he said when a few more guards ran into the room. "And get Alec, I want to see him in my chambers."

He strode out of the room without waiting for his orders to be followed. The nagging sensation in his mind finally solidified. _They_ were looking for him, _they_ had found them somehow, but they wouldn't get them. No, he wouldn't let them come and destroy everything he had worked for. They couldn't take what was his, if he couldn't have it, couldn't keep it, no one could have it, he would just have to start over, fulfill his dream and give his mate as many children as she wanted for as long as she wanted them.

Walking into his chambers, Aro found his mate gazing down at the boy asleep on their bed in curiosity and longing as her fingers brushed through his hair. He had gone through a growth spurt recently, appearing as a child of ten rather than a little boy. Aro knew that a few more growth spurts and it would be time to cull the child and provide his mate with a new one; he would just have to kill the boy earlier than planned this time. He resolved to give Sasha two children the next time to make up for taking one from her early.

"My love," he greeted, walking up to the woman and kissing her lightly on the neck. "I'm afraid I have some bad news…"

"You're going to have to kill him aren't you?" She asked, glancing back at her mate.

"I'm afraid so my dear," Aro murmured, "Those Volturi scum are coming, and we will go out to meet them. But I can't have any of the vessels or any of the hybrids fall into their hands, so I'm afraid I must cull all that cannot fight, including the boy here."

Sasha nodded sadly, "I thought something was coming. And after his most recent growth spurt, he has gotten bigger but not old enough for _that_ time anyway." She normally lost interest in the hybrid children when they started appearing around ten years old, maybe slightly older. The boy sleeping peacefully on the bed appeared around eight years old so she knew it was coming; Sasha could feel herself starting to pull away from the child and Aro's presence circling, protective as he readied to dispose of him at a moment's notice.

"I'm sorry my love, you know I hate to get rid of them before you're ready," the older vampire replied, pressing another kiss just below Sasha's ear. "I will make sure you get two children next time though."

"Two girls," Sasha said softly, "It's been boys the last few times."

"I'll make sure of it my love," Aro promised. "But we must hurry. I have plans to go out and meet the enemy in battle. I will not allow them to compromise our fortress here." Sasha glanced away as her mate drained the blood and venom from the boy lying on the bed and quickly ripped apart his body. When vampires were ripped apart, it sounded like concrete and metal was being torn asunder, but with hybrids that still retained some human fragility to their forms, it sounded like wet cloth or sticky leather was being ripped. Sasha was used to it by now having spent years listening to Aro dispose of the children she had grown tired of, but this time the sound bothered her.

"Where is the battle to be my King?" Sasha questioned, a light purr in her voice. She was furious at the Volturi for poking their noses where they didn't belong, but this just meant that she would be queen sooner than anticipated. Their army was vast, their hybrids and vampires strong, the Volturi wouldn't stand a chance.

"Some place isolated so we won't be disturbed by humans," Aro sneered, "Some place that will forever be marked with carnage, a remnant of our victory that future vampires and hybrids will know and revere."

"And I will stand by your side through this my love," the woman replied, "I will be there with you when you finally destroy those Italian bastards."

Aro looked worried for his mate, "Are you sure Sasha? Your children might be there, your first changelings, you still have strong feelings for them. Would you be able to face them after all these years?"

"I left them for you remember, I left them to be with you," the blonde replied, pressing a hungry kiss to her mate's lips. "I chose you. I care for them yes, but you are my mate. If they get in our way, get in the way of what we're planning, what we're trying to accomplish, they will feel my wrath." She grinned, a smile full of wickedness and malice, "I am they're sire after all, I can make them feel more pain than they have ever felt before."

* * *

"I still don't think it was a good idea to bring them," Athenodora muttered as she glanced back at the Denali sisters. "I mean, Sasha is their sire, their beloved mother. Will they be able to see her die? The giant oaf, the midget fortune teller and the ice princess stayed behind for that exact reason."

"You didn't express such concerns about the Whitlocks when they agreed to fight with us," Didyme stated as she stood next to her sister. They weren't far from where the battle would take place, the location having been decided upon earlier and implanted into Aro's mind, courtesy of Ben.

The blonde queen snorted, 'They're warriors, soldiers, they'll fight even if their sire shows, and they know that the plan is to capture Jasper and let Isabelle work a bit of her magic on him, even if she has to keep him in that state so that the tiny psychic doesn't die a terrible death at the loss of her mate."

Sulpicia ignored her sisters as they bickered and turned her attention to her mate who was at the very edge of their encampment. The brunette flicked her crimson eyes around warily, searching the shadows around them as if looking for unseen assailants lurking in the dark. "Are you alright precious?" She murmured, sliding up behind the shorter vampire and wrapping her in her arms.

Isabelle leaned back into her mate's embrace, but her eyes never strayed from the darkness around them. "I'm worried," she confessed, "I'm worried that something is going to happen. We don't know anything about these hybrids or how many they have, Ben and Leah weren't able to get that information."

"It is a war Isabelle," the queen reminded her, "We will get hurt, probably lose some people here with us now, but they understand that and are still here."

The brunette sighed, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Just remember that you have to get Jasper with that void power you have, that is the only way to ensure that he survives the fight and has a chance afterward to be with that pixie mate of his."

Dyani and Ayla melted out of the shadows and approached the group at a fast pace, interrupting the various conversations happening among the group. "They're coming," Dyani hissed, "They're several miles north east of this point. There aren't any humans within miles of this area, which is good because the numbers that are coming immense."

"Ben and Leah should be heading to their base to see who they left behind," Sulpicia said, "They can't participate in the battle, doesn't mean they can't get more information."

"They have the easy part then," Athenodora said, "We have the fun part. Caius! Prepare the guard! We will meet these interlopers head on, any show of fear on our part is a sign of weakness."

Isabelle shot her mate a look, one full of love, worry, fear, excitement; the lust for battle, for a fight, was built into every vampire's DNA, no matter how peaceful they were or if they were pacifists in their human lives. It was part of being a territorial predator, something primal that woke within humans as venoms burned through them and changed them into vampires. Isabelle knew that her mate was a warrior in her human life, same as Athenodora, so the bloodlust ran deep in her, rooted in her very bones. There were no guarantees in war, no guarantee at who would come out alive on the other side, but Isabelle knew that her mate would fight tooth and nail to survive, as would she, or go down taking out all who came at them.

The ragtag group of Volturi royalty, guard and their temporary allies wove into the trees and through the woods to the clearing just on the other side. It was only a matter of minutes before the other army appeared with Aro and Sasha at the front. The Denali sisters let out a mix between a sob and a growl at the sight of their mother but didn't move from their position behind the Volturi guard.

"You have been misbehaving Aro," Didyme stated, eyeing her brother in distaste, "Imagine our surprise in finding out you're still alive, especially when you were supposed to have been executed for your crimes already."

"Misbehaving is such a subjective term dear sister," Aro returned, a wide almost manic smile on his face as he clasped his hands together in a sick form of amused glee. "See, I believe that I am a revolutionary, creating a way for us to live on without the necessity of humans or having to choke down animal blood." He paced around a bit, taking slow deliberate steps. "Just imagine it, a world where vampires are at the top of the food chain as we should be, humans in the minority as our servants, satisfying _all_ of our _needs._ It's a perfect world, one that I have been working towards with my hybrid army."

"One that you will rule over I presume," Sulpicia said, her eyes narrowed. She tracked the movements of her ex-husband, her former lover, her gaze hardened into a steady glare.

"Someone needs to keep a firm hand on things," the dark haired vampire smirked, before turning to Sasha. "With my beautiful mate by my side, we will rule the world, keeping order and peace among all vampires and hybrids. Don't you want to live in a world like that?"

"You mean a world devoid of humans except those you select, where you rape women to make your hybrids and keep them on as your body slaves, where the majority of full vampires are dead except the ones that you choose?" The dark queen continued. Her words were cold and unyielding, causing many of the hybrids to shift uneasily on their feet.

Aro just held his hand out in an uncaring expression, "Sacrifices must be made in the quest for a utopia. Vampires will have to comply or be weeded out in the new world order, it is the way all revolutions work."

"So that's what this is then, a revolution?" Athenodora clarified.

"This is us changing the world," he answered, "But you tell me, you're the one that came with the intent to destroy us."

Sulpicia's glare hardened, "What you're doing is wrong Aro, what you've done is wrong."

"All great empires started with the ruling party telling the rebellion that they were wrong," the man replied. "And now, now is time for the revolution, for a new age to start. We will start with you, and then the humans, purifying the world of their filth."

The battle started differently than how Isabelle thought it would. She had seen tapestries, paintings, and movies depicting great battles, wars between multiple factions. She always imagined there would be a long pause, a moment of silence before action; the calm before the storm. Then people would start moving in slow motion, as time would catch up with itself until there was a great clash and violence would sound, breaking the spell of silence.

It was sudden, like the blinking of an eye; Isabelle would've missed it if she weren't a vampire. One second everyone was still and then the next there was a great clash of violence and sound, like gunfire and cars crashing into each other. Aro's army easily outnumbered them four to one, but what the Volturi lacked in numbers they made up for in skill. Isabelle used what her mate and Dora taught her and ripped through the hybrids and enemy vampires, hissing in pain as bites started to litter her arms and neck.

For a moment, Isabelle was left alone, vampires and hybrids swarming around her. Her unnecessary breath was coming out in pants as she hissed in pain from the gouges and bite marks that dug into her marble skin. The air was thick with the smell of venom and smoke as snarls and the sound of metal tearing echoed in the clearing. Heidi was fighting off two large male vampires that were torn between being drawn in by her gift and wanting to rip her apart. Jane was locked in a battle of wits with her brother Alec, both of them hurling insults at each other in their native language, an old form of French that she couldn't understand. Athenodora and Caius were ripping through hybrids like butter as they closed in on Sasha, while Victoria had her sights set on Carlisle and Esme. Isabelle's eyes searched for her mate and found her fighting with Jasper, her gaze set on Aro's twirling form as he fought with the Denali sisters and the Irish coven.

Isabelle's eyes narrowed when she saw her mate growl in pain as Jasper latched onto Sulpicia's arm and bit into her flesh. She felt rage coursing through her and her eyes narrowed. Her power tingled just under the surface of her skin and arcs of purple electricity raced along her arms down to her fingertips. The shadows on the ground darkened, and moved around Jasper, enveloping the empath in darkness. The male vampire reeled back in shock, swatting uselessly at the shadows but it was a futile act; the shadows seeped into ears, mouth and eyes, causing him to seize a little as purple lightning danced around his form. His eyes turned solid black and he dropped to the ground, twitching occasionally as spasms wracked through his frame. Sulpicia glanced over at her mate and they stared at each other for a moment across the battlefield, sharing a brief quiet moment before it was disrupted by hybrids that continued to swarm. The dark queen turned and went after Aro while Isabelle turned back to the incoming hybrids. Her gift was difficult to control against numerous enemies so Isabelle didn't bother trying to use it against the hybrids and vampires coming at her.

Suddenly a large vampire grabbed her from behind and managed to rip her arm off, causing the brunette to cry out in pain. She whirled around to face the vampire, but before she could get a good look at him, Isabelle felt an intense pain around her neck and everything went dark.

Sulpicia felt it the instant Isabelle's head was ripped from her neck and her body changed course, her anger fueling and clouding her vision. She tore through vampires and hybrids, her fingers slicing into them like a knife into warm butter. It was only a matter of seconds before the dark queen was tearing into the large vampire that dared to attack her mate, rendering him into small, unrecognizable pieces. "Heidi!" Sulpicia bellowed as she gathered her downed mate, gingerly applying venom to her neck at the various bites she saw along her torso. The mahogany haired vampire appeared just as the skin and muscles around Isabelle's neck started to re-fuse together. "You are to stay with her until she recovers, add more venom if necessary, it's time to finish this," the woman growled though her words were clear. She paused long enough to make sure that the guard understood what she wanted her to do and would follow her instructions to the letter before turning and running after Aro again.

The coward had turned tail and run, leaving his mate and his army to fend for themselves. Rage drove her speed, outmatching his desperation and she eventually caught up with her ex-husband. "Your gift won't save you now," she snarled wrenching him backwards by his hair and tossing him back towards the fighting vampires. Caius and Athenodora had just ripped apart Sasha, tossing her into the flames, which caused the Denali coven to fall back behind the conflict, the three sisters grieving once more. The fighting ceased as soon as Aro's body collided with the ground, a loud crack echoing in his wake.

"Sulpicia, be reasonable," Aro stuttered out, trying to push himself off the ground but the dark queen pressed one of her feet into his back. "I was just trying to save the vampire species, make us better, give us the world we deserve!"

"By killing off vampires that disagree with you, vampires that don't fit in your perfect worldview," Sulpicia growled, pressing her foot harder into his back. "Not to mention the billions of humans that live on this planet as well."

"They are vile creatures, look how much of the world they've already destroyed in the few thousand years we've been alive! Vampires are superior in every way, there wouldn't be need for all of this unnecessary waste or filth."

"Sustaining life by only drinking the blood of hybrids will not work," Sulpicia insisted, "Eventually the venom would build up in their system and they would no longer be hybrids, then where would you be?"

Aro snarled, refusing to be told that what he strove for, a world free of chaotic vampires and humans was impossible to attain. He attempted to buck the older vamprie off of us back, but Sulpicia could read his movements as sure as she could memories. His eyes widened in fear as Sulpicia ripped off his arms and legs, leaving just his torso and head intact. "Sulpica please, don't do this," he begged, watching as his ex-wife started a fire not too far from his head.

"Don't do what Aro?" The woman asked with a falsely curious tone, "This?" She ripped off one of his toes and dropped it into the fire, enjoying the look of pain on the man's face as he felt the appendage burning. This was a special form of torture she saved for the most evil or annoying of enemies. When a vampire's head is disconnected from their body, their nervous system goes dormant until it is reattached. If the head is still attached to the torso, the vampire can feel each limb as if it were still attached. It was a simple but effective form of torture.

"We can rule the world Cia," Aro pleaded even as she ripped off more of his toes and tossed them into the flame, "It will be pure, ultimate dominion over everything, not having to hide from humans and their inferior governments. We can be as we used to be love."

Sulpicia paused and her eyes narrowed; a growl built in her chest, and she tossed the remnants of his legs into the fire, relishing the pained scream as it left his throat. "I was going to be merciful and remove your head before tossing the rest of you into the fire," the woman seethed, her eyes dark. "But you had to call me love; the only one with any right to say that is currently having her head reattached by her sister." Sulpicia glanced over and saw the mahogany haired guard tending to her downed mate, applying venom as needed to heal the bite marks and help Isabelle's head reconnect to her neck. She looked back at Aro and dropped his arms into the flames before gripping his hair and yanking him off the ground. "I hope you enjoy eternity in hell," Sulpicia sneered, tossing him into the fire.

"Kill them all," the queen ordered to her watching guard, allies and sisters, and immediately, the remnants of Aro's army were torn apart even as they fled. Sulpicia took Heidi's spot as the guard disappeared after the fleeing army, running her fingers through soft brown hair.

"Is it over?" Isabelle asked, her face scrunched in pain as flesh sizzled back together.

"Yes," Sulpicia murmured, lowering her head to lick a trail of venom along the crack on her neck.

"How many did we lose?"

The dark queen glanced over at Heidi who glanced around the battlefield. "Santiago, Renata, some of the lower guard, and Victoria. It looks like Jane ripped apart Alex and tossed him into the fire, so we might lose her as well. He was her brother after all, and before this time, they were always together."

"Monitor the situation and report back if it changes," Sulpicia ordered, and the mahogany haired guard nodded, her attention straying back to the petite blonde huddled at the edge of the field.

"Your sisters?" Isabelle questioned and Sulpicia glanced around to locate her sisters and their mates.

"They are fine my precious. Dora and Caius are still gleefully kicking body parts into the fires and dancing in the ashes, and Didyme and Marcus are checking on the remaining guard and our allies."

Isabelle nodded and remained still for a few more minutes while her neck continued to heal. "Can we go home?" She asked, "I don't, I don't want to be here anymore."

Words of refute died in Sulpicia's throat and she nodded. Scoping Isabelle off the ground, she cradled her mate carefully in her arms and turned to her sisters. "I'm going to take Isabelle home, follow me when you can. Don't forget to bring Jasper with you," she said, nodding at the still unconscious vampire. "He'll be spending quite a few years in our dungeons."

"We'll clean up, don't worry Cia," Didyme told her, "We'll make sure that no trace of what happened here will remain."

The dark queen nodded and ran off, holding her mate closely in her arms. By the time they reached Volterra, Isabelle's neck was healed completely but Sulpicia still held her as she strode through the castle. Before she could head in the direction on their room, the last conscious members of the Cullen family approached them.

Isabelle tugged at Sulpicia to let her down and the queen complied, setting Isabelle down to face the Cullens. "Jasper is alive," the brunette told the pixie like Cullen. "I've trapped him with my gift though."

"He will be our prisoner for a long time," Sulpicia said, "Even when he comes out of Isabelle's gift, he will have to be punished for his crimes. Chelsea can deaden your bonds to him, but you will not be able to stay here during his punishment. In fact, I would like you all to leave as soon as possible; your parents are dead, but the remnants of what they did will still be felt by the guard due to the ones we lost. I cannot guarantee your safety if you were to remain."

"We were going to leave anyway," Rosalie responded. Emmett followed after her as the blonde woman disappeared back down the hallway. Alice lingered for a moment, staring mournfully at the two before she too followed her coven mates.

The two women changed directions and Isabelle went to Sulpicia's study while Sulpicia went down to the dungeons to release Carmen and Eleazar. She told them that Aro, Sasha and the Cullens were dead, and that the Denali sisters might need them. The two Spanish vampires left without a word, and Sulpicia returned to her mate in her office.

"What's going to happen now?" Isabelle asked as she curled into Sulpicia's lap.

"Well," Sulpicia started, thinking over the question. "Our friends and allies will probably return to their homes. We will hold a festival for the fallen guards before returning to our daily lives. Then," she said, leaning closer to her mate, "I plan to show you the world. Your first few months in this life have been scattered and difficult, I want to show you all of the good things about this life."

"Sounds perfect," Isabelle murmured, kissing her mate's jaw lightly.

"This may be the end of the war," Sulpicia said, her lips brushing tender kisses across Isabelle's face. "But it's a new beginning for us, the one we deserve." The two settled in and waited for the rest of their coven to return, already dreaming about what the future had in store for them.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, so that's the end. I'll get working on the next chapter of Beyond the Forge, which had been stuck behind this one. In the mean time, some of you guys have found me over on Ao3 which is where I'm posting all of my Supergirl stories. My current story is sitting at around 120,000 words and still growing so it's turning out to be quite massive.

Til the next time.


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